Return to the Great Magellenic Cloud
by Freddo
Summary: Story Seven in the Rikasha Incident cycle. In my AU tale in the year 2202, the space battleship Argo is engaged in a race against time in a new journey to Iscandar to seek counsel from Queen Starsha but, will they make it in time? COMPLETED.
1. Chapter 1

* * *

**ALTERNATE TALES OF THE STAR FORCE**

**STAR BLAZERS---****RETURN TO THE GREAT MAGELLENIC CLOUD**

**Being the seventh part of THE RIKASHA INCIDENT--- BY: Frederick P. Kopetz**

* * *

**ACT ONE--STUCK IN THE MIDDLE WITH YOU**

* * *

**I. PATROL FLIGHT**

**Deep Space**

**Somewhere Near the Octopus Star Group**

**Monday February 1, 2202**

**1020 Hours Spacetime**

* * *

For the first time in quite a while, Captain Derek Wildstar was again behind the controls of his Super Starfighter on a patrol flight with the Black Tigers, specifically, Hardy's squadron. His flight formed a "fifth" flight on patrol with the Tigers as part of the usual CAP that regularly scoured space around the _Argo_. The huge space battleship was still marooned near the Octopus Star Group. She was now about 15 AU's away from the edge of the storm near an edge of the black nebula that surrounded it, (Astronomical Units, each AU being the distance between Earth and its star), but the storm had subsided a little. Hence, the patrol flight. At the current time, they were flying near an edge of the black cloud, or black nebula. Close-up, the nebula looked just plain weird; it was multi-colored, and it occasionally was luridly illuminated by lurid flares of static electricity that went off inside the cloud due to the action of the gas molecules rubbing against each other. _Not one of the more pleasant places I've flown in,_ thought Derek_, but we're just checking out a hunch of Sandor's that maybe there's another way out of the black cloud. _

"Nice to be flying again," he said over the radio to the wingman on his left, Stephen Sandor, who was flying his special Technical Recon Cosmo Tiger.

"Sure is," said Sandor. "Take a look at that cloud. The static activity is just plain fascinating. It wasn't this active the last time we were here." As if to punctuate his point, a burst of lightning went off somewhere deep inside the cloud.

"I'm enjoying it, too," said IQ-9, who had finally been rebuilt and released from the Mechanical Engineering shop. He was flying as Sandor's RSO. "But I'd rather be in the _other _plane."

"You mean mine?" said Captain Wildstar. "I thought you'd have a nice discussion with Sandor about science."

"I mean with your _other_ wingman, Captain Wildstar."

"No _thank you_," said Derek and Nova Wildstar together in chorus. Nova was flying the other plane, a spare Strike Cosmo Tiger refitted with a Life Sciences recon pod packet much like the one on the plane she had been flying a while ago at Pellias. She was using some of its ancillary functions to help Derek and Steve check out the black cloud.

"What's wrong? Don't you trust me? I was killed saving your life, you know, Nova." chirped IQ.

"I know...it's just...well...we thought you could help Sandor, that's all," said Nova. "I made a point of being there when they turned you back on at last yesterday."

"And I hugged you for joy..."

"You also wouldn't put me down for five minutes," giggled Nova. "You're very sweet, but I think you need to let your systems stabilize for a bit. After all, you've only been working again for less than twenty-three hours."

"I'm a newborn robot," he said. "And I'm more of a genius than _ever_!"

Across the void, Derek looked at his wife in her cockpit and put a gloved hand up to his helmet. He began to twirl his finger around rapidly.

Nova nodded back and giggled. _Yeah, Derek.__ He sure is crazy ..she_ thought. _But, we love him just the same_.

"So, you two," said Wildstar. "How's the solar wind?"

"Bad," said Sandor. "If we go ten megameters deeper, we'll start to have problems with the instruments."

"The storm was out _here_ yesterday," said Nova. "It's more chaotic that it was last time. I wonder what could be making it that vicious?"

"I was noticing the same thing in terms of the static discharges inside the cloud," said Sandor. "It seems as if this whole region has gone berserk."

"Hey, Wildstah!" called out Hardy from just a few hundred kilometers away.

"Yes, Hardy?"

"Three of my guys are startin' to report problems with their navigational instruments," he said. "Request permission to return to the ship."

Derek was about to just ask them to head off on another course heading when he saw his fighter's astro-compass beginnning to twirl around. "Uhh...guys..I see your point." He called over to Sandor. "Sandor! Is your astro-compass staying on course?"

"Yes...don't know for how much longer, though."

"Nova?"

"Mine keeps going off a degree. I'd better follow you guys out visually."

"Okay, out we go," said Wildstar. "Sandor, I'll follow you."

"Roger that."

A while later, all fifteen planes emerged from the nebula and landed safely aboard the _Argo._

* * *

"So, what did you guys find in there?" asked Conroy a while later in the Black Tigers' briefing room.

"Whole lotta _nuthin_," said Hardy. "Sandor's hunch almost cost five guys their butts out there."

"What do you mean?" asked Conroy.

"We went deep inside that black cloud, looking for a way out. We went deep enough so that we began having instrument problems. We almost lost all of Charlie Flight in my squadron..."

"You mean Miyamoto, Lindenmann _and_ Garand?" said Conroy. "You sure got the _short_ end of the stick, buddy!"

"Yeah. And the other two were both of the Wildstars. Luckily, everyone followed Sandor out. He didn't lose his compass."

"Shhoot! I could kinda see Nova getting lost, she's still a bit new at flying fighters; but Derek? The guy's practically grown up in that damn cockpit of his."

"Like ah always said, Conroy. One mistake out there in space can kill ya mighty fast."

Conroy looked around. The other squadrons had arrived... namely; Laurel Hartmann's and Tatiana Lubyanska's squadrons. He noticed that Bryan and Angie Hartcliffe were both sitting with their squadrons and hadn't reverted to sitting together yet. _Guess things are still pretty dicey between those two_, thought Conroy. _You think they'd be closer..._

A moment later, Nova, Sandor, and IQ-9 came in together, all animatedly talking about a series of technical readouts on a printout that Sandor was carrying. Sandor nodded, and went up to the podium while Nova and IQ sat down together.

"I think everybody knows we had a close call out there today," said Sandor. "And this was all following a hunch of mine about that nebula and another way to get out. Before we hear from the Captain, I'd like to apologize to everyone involved in today's survey flight. Thank God we didn't lose a single person or plane out there. Flying out there is getting dangerous."

_Wonder what the Captain said to him?_ Bryan Hartcliffe thought from his seat. _I hope he got bitched out like I did when I made my mistake, man._

**_Bozhe_****_ moi_**_, even the senior officers are now admitting they can screw up,_ thought Lubyanska.

"Now, Captain Wildstar is here. He'll...take the podium," said Sandor.

Derek adjusted his ascot and stood there, not another pilot, but now, once again, the "Old Man" of the ship.

"I think everyone's heard by now that we had a close one out there in that cloud," said Captain Wildstar. "I'm not blaming anyone; I was there. I even made some flying mistakes. One of which was even permitting a flight so deep into that nebula. You know that the storm's not subsiding; we're all on edge, and we're grabbing at straws to try to find a way out of this crap and get back on the high road with our mission. I'd like to apologize to everyone for permitting that flight, and almost costing us lives. Dying in the cockpit of a marooned astrofighter as you slowly run out of heat and air after you run out of fuel and power is a slow and lonely death that I wouldn't wish on anyone here in this room. Sure, you can say we would've recovered anyone we'd lost...but given that radar doesn't work right in this mess, do we want to take that chance?"

Everyone just murmured a little as Wildstar continued. "So, effective today, I'm instituting some new security regs. _No one_ goes out there into that nebula while it's active. I know it'll cut down the range of our CAP flights, and, as we eventually end up closer to the nebula, probably will curtail our patrols altogether, like the last time we were here, but we can't risk lives over hunches any one of us might have. I know you're probably thinking, _what's with Wildstar...is he losing his nerve?_ I'm not. I'm trying to remember we have over three hundred people on this ship, whose lives are depending upon my decisions. And Earth is depending upon our successful completion of this mission. There's a time to act on your hunches, but, right now, no one on this battleship, myself included, can afford to act like a cowboy and muck things up. Is that clear?"

Counting losses they had incurred, the forty-two Black Tiger pilots and other officers present in the briefing room murmured assent.

"Good. Conroy, Hardy, you guys are to join us in the central briefing room for that briefing at 1300 after lunch. Lubyanska, you go out there for the next patrol. Watch your butt out there," said Captain Wildstar.

Lubyanska nodded. "I'll prepare a new flight plan now, sir. I'll...keep in mind what you ordered us to do."

"Good. Tigers, you're dismissed," said Wildstar. "Remember your alert statuses, guys."

* * *

**II. REVIEW SESSION**

**Central Briefing Room**

**Space Battleship _Argo_**

**Monday, February 1, 2202**

**1300 Hours Spacetime**

* * *

_"Okay," _said Commander Mark Venture while he stood on the large deck screen, right in the center of the surface. He held the usual pointer. "Before we start getting into a mutual exchange of recriminations, everybody, let's review how we got ourselves caught in this fix here at the Octopus Star Group...again."

"On the twenty-third of January, you recall, we had a long discussion about how we were caught here and we discussed our alternatives...none of them good. So, after trying a few things, on the twenty-fifth, we had just finished taking scans of how large the black cloud or nebula that surrounded this soup had gotten now. Why was that, again?'

"Because I thought we had found a place where we could warp out of this mess safely," said Aliscea as several crewmembers began to give her dirty looks. She now looked a little different; she had borrowed a brown simulated suede skirt from another crewmember, and she wore it with a black blouse and her usual lace-up sandals.

"She was doing what we had asked of her," said Captain Wildstar. "Venture, go on."

"Yessir. At close range, we had discovered that the black cloud had grown several hundred megameters, from here...to here..." said Venture as he pointed at the screen. "Our escape route, here...was cut off. However, Parsons, Lieutenant Wildstar, and I sat around that navigation scope on the second bridge for nine hours _straight _on the twenty-sixth to try to find some way out of this dilemma as Aliscea had suggested."

"Again, I commend all of you guys," said Derek. "Mark, Holly, Nova, you all have commendations in your records for your hard work."

"Thanks," said Holly. Mark breathed a sigh; Nova stood in silence staring at the deck. "Lieutenant Wildstar, you've got the floor for a minute," said Venture.

"Thanks," said Nova. "Now, here's the part where you can all blame _me_. After I made scan after scan that day, I finally found an alternate path out of the black cloud, here, at XPY-322," said Nova as she took the pointer from Venture and pointed to a flashing dot about 60 AU's away from the Octopus Group itself. "That channel wasn't on our old charts; so I guessed it was a change in the nebula. We flew Tigers into it several hundred megameters...we thought it was clear. We warped a short staging warp of 60 AU's outwards in this direction, because I thought the stellar storms had subsided a little..."

"And thanks to your bright thinking, we found ourselves facing an electrical storm and this deep garbage in this uncharted part of the nebula when we came out," snapped Dash. "Smart, Nova. Real smart."

"It was a random event, Dash!" snapped back Nova. "We couldn't pick it up 60 astronomical units away."

"That was typical, Nova. You got us lost."

"And what do you have to say about this _morning_ when I risked my neck trying to find another way out in a plane?" Nova retorted.

"Both of you, _cool_ it!" shot back Captain Wildstar. "Now, I know we're all on edge here, but we don't need to act like we're in high school. We're a _military_ outfit, not a bunch of space pirates without discipline. We don't need any more fights like that garbage on the first bridge the other day. Nova, Dash, both of you are to apologize to each other after this briefing. I know you two don't exactly like each other all that much on this cruise, but we don't need your shenanigans today! I don't have time _for_ it! You got that?"

"Yessir," said Nova in a muffled voice. She kept her eyes down because she knew that if she looked up at the Captain...her husband...she would be staring daggers at him. She knew she couldn't show that sort of disrespect to the Captain at a meeting, even if she was fuming inside.

"Aye, aye, sir," said Dash. He glanced sidelong at Nova and shook his head. _Women_, he thought.

"Now, let's get on with this," said Captain Wildstar. "Venture, based on our information, how much longer do you think we're going to be caught here with the stellar storm in front of us and that crazy nebula behind us?"

"At least twenty days...maybe twenty-five," said Venture. "It's hard to tell for sure, sir. We'll just have to keep on monitoring both that stellar storm and the nebula. If we find a way out, one way or another, we'll take it."

"Wish we weren't stuck here," muttered Sakamoto, who had been reassigned to Conroy's squadron. "Maybe there _was_ something to the old naval superstition that said women on a ship were bad luck."

"I _heard_ that, Sakamoto!" barked Captain Wildstar. "Do you have an excuse for that?"

_Good job, Derek,_ thought Nova with a little grin.

"Sir...no sir. Just recalling...old folklore."

"Folklore which is now, thankfully, obsolete," said Derek. "Does anyone else have any other comments to make from old _folklore_?"

The gathered officers stood there in uneasy silence.

"Good," said Captain Wildstar. "This briefing is adjourned."

Dash began to leave, but Nova grabbed him by the arm. "Dash, I believe the Captain wants us to say something to each other in front of him."

"Oh, yeah...right," he said. "Captain," said Dash. "Nova...I'm sorry I lost my temper with you. We're all on edge. I'll try to be more professional."

"Me too," said Nova. "Dash, I'm very sorry I snapped at you."

"Good job, guys," said Captain Wildstar. "You know you can't let the tension get to you."

"I feel like climbing up a bulkhead, sir," said Dash as they all walked out into a corridor. "I almost wish someone would attack the ship so we'd have something _to _do."

"That's a terrible thing to wish for," said Nova. "You know how many people get hurt in battles."

"I admire you, Nova," said Dash. "How do you keep your convictions and that gentle heart in the face of all of the battles we've been through? And how do you keep your cool, Wildstar?"

"It's not easy," said Derek. "You don't want to know the times I've wanted to put my fist through a bulkhead on this cruise, Dash."

"As for me...it's personal," said Nova. "Not that it's easy to keep to my convictions all the time here on this ship. I'm not a perfect person by any means," she said as she patted Derek's arm.

"So how do you manage?"

"I don't know, Dash...prayer, maybe? Meditation?" said Nova. "That's...why I didn't want to get into this," she added as she and Derek stood before a lift. "I know...we have different convictions, you and I."

"Yeah. There's something to be said for your clean lifestyle," said Dash.

"Problem is, I'm not as clean as I look," said Nova.

"What does that mean?" asked Dash.

The lift came. "Nova, let's go," said Derek.

"See you later, Dash," said Nova as she and her husband stepped into the lift. The doors whizzed shut, leaving Dash to ponder the point alone in the corridor.

* * *

**III. RIKASHAN DISHONOR**

**Baron Anton and Baroness**

**Mikala**** Cha'rif's Bedroom**

**Sherikhan**** Fortress**

**Planet Rikasha**

**Tuesday, February 2, 2202**

**1657 Hours Spacetime**

* * *

Baron Anton Cha'rif sat on his own round bed in his bedroom in his family's palace at the center of their oasis-like fief on the hot, bleak desert world that was Planet Rikasha.

He wore only a gauze caftan-like garment that reached to his knees. The sheets and pillows on the round bed were rumpled, attesting to a nice time earlier with his wife, the Baroness Mikala.

Right now, the Baron sat cross-legged on his bed, resting the lower bell curve of a Rikashan musical instrument known as a _khalil'bak_ against his bare ankle. He blew into the oboe-like instrument, and dolefully played a tune that would have sounded both exotic and bizarre to Terran ears. Rikashan music used a strange tonal musical notation and time signatures like nothing ever heard on Earth. The closest analogue on Earth to Rikashan music (and it was a very poor one) was a cross between Arabic and Indian music.

Cha'rif blew a series of notes through his instrument that matched his black mood_. Lord Zaden said he and my father would be here from the Capital in two days to judge my case,_ he thought_. I don't even know if I'm going to end the week alive or not. Damn the Star Force! I should have blown up their ship when I had the chance! I got myself in this spot by being...honorable_. _Damn honor! I would've cut off my right arm a while ago rather than say that, but may Perdition take honor! It doesn't work out there...in space...against enemies the Empire wants dead! And the worship of Ekogaru...growing more fanatical than ever. And human sacrifices? They never did that before. What's wrong with us? What's wrong with my beloved people? My beloved world?_

Anton blew more notes from his _khalil'bak_, and then he threw it on the bed and put his face in his hands. He growled into his hands, and then just began to hiss.

He looked up, and a green light glowed in his eyes as he used his _R'jkharraz_ powers to lift a steaming cup of _kif_ up from a nearby table. He levitated the bitter coffee-like drink to his hands and began to drink as the doors to his chamber opened. In strode Mikala, wearing a caftan like his, some jewelry, and nothing else. The sun shone through her caftan as she approached the bed, and that made him smile a little as she jumped up onto the bed. Mikala made sure her husband had a nice view of her long legs and bare ankles, decorated with bangly ankle bracelets that jingled with her every move. Despite her doubts about her mercurial husband, she truly loved him.

"Want a cup of _kif_ Baroness?" he asked.

"What I would desire, you probably won't do."

"And that is?"

"For you to come out and talk with your wife and son again?" she said gently. "Ar'ten's been very worried about his father. His father has had no stories from the battlefront...no souvenirs from exotic alien races. Not even a fur coat for his wife for those cold nights when the sun doesn't beat down on us. Tell me...what is it that troubles you?"

"I met a foe out in space trying to help a sworn foe of the Lord Ekogaru protect itself. They are our sworn religious enemies. They fought well, and were honorable warriors. They say Ekogaru only aids the honorable...the decent warriors. If that is so, then why are such decent people enemies of our Lord?"

"I can't answer those questions, Anton...nor do I think it is wise for me to try. At any rate, your father and the Lord Zaden sent a message. Their caravan arrives here at sunset. They would meet with you before the sun sets in the audience room."

"What...did they say? Do they need a scaffold built? Will...?"

"No, they gave no orders for the building of a scaffold. In fact, your father invites you to dinner after sunset with himself and the Lord of our People after their meeting. That must mean you will survive the meeting, my dear Baron."

"It sounds good...promising...but, will I still be Baron? Will I be cast out?"

"I don't think so," said Mikala. She hugged her husband. "But whither thou goest, I go with thee. Whither you go into the deepest _Kahved_ of the desert, or the edge of the Universe, I go with thee!"

"Good," he said as he kissed his wife affectionately on the top of her head. "I think I shall need you with me."

"Thank you," said Mikala. She kissed him and said, "When you finish that _kif_, would you mind if I took that caftan off you? You need to be oiled before you put on your dress uniform..."

"And I assume, you desire other things as payment for oiling me," said Cha'rif as he reached his hands up under his wife's garment. He smiled.

"Yes, Baron...yes..." she purred. "Hurry up and finish your _kif_. I would have you to myself again, if you are up to it, that is."

Anton kissed Mikala tenderly. "I am, Lady. I am."

* * *

Later on, in an audience chamber in his father's palace, Baron Cha'rif and Ter'garv, his second-in-command, knelt together on a carpeted runner before a throne. On that throne sat Lord T'Grish Zaden, the secular head of government of the Rikashan Star Empire. Beside him stood his father, Duke Sta'gin Cha'rif, and Marda, who was now the High Priestess of the R'Khell Priesthood of the Rikashan/R'Khell Union.

"So _that's_ your explanation of why you didn't defeat them," said Marda with contempt. She took a deep breath and said, "Lordship, I suggest we show him no mercy."

Zaden raised his hand. "Let's not be hasty, Lady. Before we punish him, let's at least hear his reasons. So, _why_ did you let Aliscea go when you had a chance to capture her? Explain it again, lad."

"Have _no mercy_!" barked Marda.

"Marda, with all respect to Lord Ekogaru, button your lip, would'ja?" growled Zaden. He took a long, almost overlong sip of the wine offered him by a servant girl in gauze. "Good wine, Sta'gin," said Zaden. "I've always liked your hospitality here. Like the tapestries, the beams in the ceiling, the sandstone walls of the Sherikhan Fortress...nice place. Like I've always said, you can't insult your host by deciding to decapitate his son in a hasty manner. Go on, lad. Don't be afraid. Tell us the truth. Remember, boy, I _am _family. Distant family, to be sure, but family. Tell us all about it, Anton."

As Marda's lip curled back in rage, Anton continued. "Thank you, M'Lord Sire. I always thought you were a decent sort. Fat, gross, but decent."

"He shows you no respect!" barked Marda. "Kill him for that alone!"

"I don't mind," laughed Zaden. He slapped his stomach and laughed. "I _am_ fat and gross, and I _know_ it! You story, boy. Or you may just tick me off..."

"Yes, Lord," said Cha'rif. "I had my reasons. Personal reasons. I thought that they were honorable and had decent reasons for getting to Pellias and back. I hoped that I could capture...Aliscea at our leisure," lied Cha'rif. "I thought we could carry out our orders in a way that wouldn't be so inhumane. I was personally sickened by how forces under my command attacked civilians of a planet we had no quarrel with. Such an action isn't honorable. It's not a part of our warriors' code. I thought...Marda...that I was best serving Ekogaru by doing that and precisely that...by acting as a man of honor. If you wish to execute me for serving our Lord, then do so." At that, Anton knelt with his face in the carpet. "Just permit me to say goodbye to my wife and son, first."

"You heard his confession," hissed Marda. "Kill him, Lordship!"

"No. I won't," said Zaden. "But he _will _be punished. Baron Cha'rif, stand!"

Anton stood up. "Yes, Lord?"

"I cannot strip you of your rank, nor can I take your noble perogatives. However, I can give you new orders. I want you to atone for your losses at Pellias and afterwards by leaving Rikasha the day after tomorrow with three hundred ships. We will begin a _ji'had_ against Earth soon, and I want you to be at the forefront of that _ji'had_. Marda tells me that the will of Ekogaru is to see this Lady Aliscea, who is a threat to us, killed or captured. Likewise, your mission is simple; capture, disable, or destroy the space battleship _Argo_ of the Earth Defense Federation. I understand she was once an ancient warship of theirs called _Yamato_, so, if you would, deal with them in the manner befitting a piece of history. Show them no mercy. Those are your direct orders. Can you wipe out the stain on your family's honor by doing that and exactly that? Do you understand where we are coming from, lad?"

"Yes, Lordship, I do. Thank you for stating your orders to me in such a direct fashion," said Baron Cha'rif.

"Good. I give you the perogative to take whomever it is you like aboard your flagship, _B'eoneraze_, which, I understand, is below this Fortress in dock. To bless your undertaking, may we dine aboard your ship, below the palace, tonight?"

"Uh...yes, Lord...of course. It would be an honor. Certainly!" said Anton.

"Good. You may rise. Let us retire to _B'eoneraze_, Baron Cha'rif. Permit Marda to bless your ship before we dine so she may bless the ship before you depart. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Lord." Baron Cha'rif rose.

"I hope that you understand," said Zaden. "Of course, if you return to Rikasha without accomplishing this charge, you know I'll have you crucified," said the Lord of Rikasha with an evil grin. "You understand, of course...just business."

"Yes...Lord...I understand _quite_ well," said Anton. _All too well_, he thought to himself.

* * *

**IV. BECALMED**

**Space Battleship _Argo_**

**Wednesday, February 3, 2202**

**1912 Hours Spacetime**

* * *

In her cabin, Angelique Hartcliffe sighed and slammed down her flight bag. She had just come in from a patrol, and she felt desolate. "Hello? Anyone in here?"

"I'm in here," said her husband Bryan. "Upper bunk, luv."

"If you'd come down to the lower bunk and just hold me, we'll talk," said Angie after she removed her boots.

Bryan jumped down a moment later. He was in his Black Tiger uniform short and boxer shorts. "All right, luv. I'm holdin' you. Now what's up?"

"Bryan...I'm still not quite ready to be with you yet."

"What'cha mean?"

"That experience I had on Pellias a while back...I...I still dream about it," she sniffed. "I want to be with you, but I'm not ready to have a man touch me yet."

"Not even yer husband?"

"No...not even you."

"Do all of you females get like this after this happens?"

"Post-traumatic stress is a hard thing to figure out, Bryan. Dr. Sane and Nova said so."

"Are they the ones tellin' you not t' sleep with me? Huh? Izzit _them_?"

"Bryan...you're acting like an idiot. No! No one is telling me not to be intimate with you...all right? They told me not to rush it if I didn't feel comfortable with it. They told me that every person reacts differently. Some people might want to be comforted by their husband or wife right after it happens; others might wait for weeks or months. They said it all depends upon someone's psychological makeup."

"Well, if it's Sane and 'is bird are tellin' you that, they're gonna hear from me!"

"Bryan...don't!" cried Angie. "You were already in trouble with the Captain once! You can't risk a black mark on your record again!"

"Sez who?" said Bryan. He threw on his pants and boots and got up to run out.

"Bryan, no!" cried Angie as she clung to him. "Damnit, reconsider this! You're acting like a jerk!"

"Hey...at least you're holding me," he chuckled.

"Come back into my bunk. I had nothing against cuddling you, Bryan."

"Oh...all right," said Bryan. "Let's forget this trip to the Doctor...for now..."

* * *

**V. THE DECLARATION**

**Imperial**** Palace**

**Provisional Gamilon Homeworld of Miralden**

**Friday, February 5, 2202**

**0942 Hours Spacetime**

* * *

Leader Desslok stood on a balcony of his palace on the Gamilon Empire's provisional capital of Miralden, a temperate but geologically quiet blue world in the Small Magellenic Cloud. At long last, after many journeys, he had come back to the closest thing that he could currently call home.

Talan and Astrena stood beside him, one on each side. Behind him stood the rest of his generals and staff.

Down below, in the courtyard before his palace, stood many thousands of Gamilons, some in military uniform, some in civilian dress. They waited upon their Leader's every word.

"People and officers of the Gamilon Empire, I salute you!" called out Desslok in ringing tones. "You have made what was a mere outpost of the Empire a fit metropolis for our capital, for a time. For that work, you have my undying thanks!"

The crowd cheered.

"Thanks to your efforts, efforts in which I have been told that the shipyards of this world have added over a hundred new ships to the Imperial Fleet in the past few weeks, the Empire is, at last, being re-established. Thanks to your efforts, our period of homelessness shall finally come to an end!"

The crowd cheered again.

"People of Gamilon, in my wanderings, I have learned much about the soul of our people, and what it should be. I had once assumed that whatever I did for Gamilon was right. I had thought that love and compassion were mere ideals that we could cast aside in our struggle to save Gamilon and survive. I had thought that our home, our foredestined new world, our ancient homeworld of Galman, was being occupied and infested by the people of Earth. In rage, and needing a new homeworld to replace our dying Gamilon, I had thought that we were destined to occupy Earth and build it into our new homeworld. I had thought that these people, people less advanced than ourselves, were mere barbarians that we could wipe out at will. Barbarians they were, barbarians they are, but they have fought for their world like our own people, and they have love and compassion for each other that put my own morality to shame. For that reason, I permitted them to live on at their darkest hour, when I had their greatest ship, the _Argo_, at my mercy. Hence, I declared that the war between Gamilon and Earth had to end. For that reason, I told them how to fight Prince Zordar of the Comet Empire, with whom we are no longer allied, due to the treachery of Princess Invidia and other Cometines who did not have the nobility of Zordar."

Desslok paused before continuing. The crowd stood in silence as he continued. "Thus, when the Cometines returned, and attacked my fleet, and the remaining Earth Fleet, I made common cause with our former enemies from Earth and sealed the peace I had declared not long beforehand. Then, I learned of a threat that threatened both of our races. In a far galaxy, there was a great explosion of some type, and a planet known as Pellias was thrust many millions of lightyears into the Great Galaxy that the Earth people call "The Milky Way." I decided to investigate this strange phenomenon, and tell the people of Earth about it. It reminded me of the legend of the Great Dark Lord, with which all of you are familiar."

Desslok paused again. "Unfortunately, upon arriving at Pellias, I found that this legend had become reality. The Dark Lord is a real being, a cyborg being known as Ekogaru. On Pellias, the Terrans and I, after many battles with Ekogaru's followers...met with this woman beside me. She is known as Astrena, the sovereign of what remained of Pellias. Her world, like our Gamilon, was dying. But, instead of being brought to death by the forces of nature, her world was brought to death by malice and design, through the great power of the Dark Lord Ekogaru. Hearing of their long struggle against the people of Ekogaru, and learning that their world was dying, I decided to offer them sanctuary in our Empire. Some, including Astrena, who shall spend her life beside me, by her choice, have accepted my offer. Others have asked to be taken to Iscandar. That wish shall soon be granted. Astrena, like Queen Starsha of Iscandar, is a woman with special gifts. She has also decided to remain with us to help us in our war against Ekogaru and the Rikashans, a war instigated by their design; not ours, and not mine. I cannot bear such an affront to our honor, and I know that neither _can you_!"

The crowd cheered loudly again, and began to salute their Leader. A chant of "Desslok, Desslok, _Desslok_!" began, and was soon taken up by every person there as a symbol of their loyalty for their Leader in this hour of crisis. The chant continued for a bit before Desslok raised his arms and called for silence.

"I thank all of you for your appreciation," said Desslok. "I thank all of you for your determination to fight for our freedom and our right to existence. The Terrans have joined with us in our struggle for peace and life itself. Astrena's daughter Aliscea, a woman of even more extraordinary talents, is now aboard the _Argo_. Ekogaru himself is aboard a vast fortress far greater than the Comet Empire city-ship itself. That Fortress shall soon enter our Local Group near the planet Gamilon. Aliscea has sworn that she will try to stop Ekogaru through her special talents. My fleet shall be there within a few weeks in the Sanzar System to offer what aid we can."

"But first, our Empire's rebirth shall continue. I have learned that the Planet Galman may in fact still exist, somewhere in the Great Galaxy. I intend to find the location of Galman, and, thus, reclaim it as our birthright, our own ancient homeworld, reborn! Thus, the end of the long war with Earth shall finally be achieved, through peace! Thus, I shall become both your Leader, and the Emperor of our far-flung race!"

The crowd cheered again. Desslok gestured towards Astrena, who was clad in dark purple and wearing a crown. "Today, Astrena, who has plighted her troth with me, shall become our Empress, the bearer of my Heir, and my new Second. If there should ever be a situation, before our Heir takes the Throne in my stead, where I cannot command you as I always have, you shall obey her commands as Empress and Regent, and you will give the same respect to her that you would accord to me!"

The crowd cheered again when Desslok presented Astrena to them, but a little less loudly than before.

"My people," said Desslok with a note of anger in his voice. "As of now, she _is_ carrying the Imperial Heir. My son. As such, any slur on her honor, shall count as a slur upon _my_ honor! She is Pellian, but her people have fought as valiantly as we have. Thus, she must be considered a Gamilon and a compatriot! I shall soon depart on my quest, but she shall remain behind as I depart in order to rule over you in my Name until I return!"

The crowd cheered again, at their Leader and Emperor, and their Empress.

"I shall soon depart," continued Desslok. "First, I shall finally bid a long-delayed farewell to Gamilon and Iscandar. Then, we shall depart, hopefully, to find Galman, based upon coordinates we have found in a ruined Rikashan starship whose hulk we have taken after a battle we recently fought on my way back here. When I retake our home, I shall return in triumph before heading forth to help Aliscea and the Earth ship _Argo _and their Star Force stop Ekogaru in the shadow of Gamilon. Then, our destiny as a people shall be assured, and, then, at last, we shall take back our old domains. In that hour, the new Galman-Gamilon Empire shall act as the true defender of Galactic peace through our strength!"

The cheers came, louder than before. Talan turned to Desslok and said, "Magnificent, Leader."

"Thank you," said Desslok. "Now, if you will pardon me, Astrena and I have much to say alone in seclusion before I depart in a few days. And, also, I need to meet with the rest of our generals. We need to make many plans before my departure."

"Yes, of course," said Talan.

* * *

"Your plans, your great plans," hissed Ekogaru as he watched the events rolling forth on Miralden in his Fortress. "Desslok...Astrena. You think both of you shall defeat me. Soon, you shall learn this: as Lord of the Universe, I _cannot_ be defeated!"

And, at that, Ekogaru laughed like a man possessed.

**TO BE CONTINUED WITH ACT TWO-"_Whatever Happened to Saturday Night?_"**

* * *

**_THERE ARE NOW 109 DAYS TO THE ARRIVAL OF EKOGARU IN EARTH'S SOLAR SYSTEM_**


	2. Chapter 2

* * *

**ALTERNATE TALES OF THE STAR FORCE**

STAR BLAZERS---RETURN TO THE GREAT MAGELLENIC CLOUD

Being the seventh part of THE RIKASHA INCIDENT--- BY: Frederick P. Kopetz

* * *

ACT TWO--WHATEVER HAPPENED TO SATURDAY NIGHT?

* * *

I. NIGHTMARE ALLEY

Captain's Quarters

Space Battleship _Argo_

Saturday, February 6, 2202

0232 Hours Spacetime

* * *

Captain Derek Wildstar yawned. He had been having some trouble sleeping, so he had pulled down an access panel that could cover the bookcase near the bunk he shared with Nova. A screen for his video player was built into that panel. Nova wasn't there to help him get to sleep by giving him a warm drink, reading to him, or performing other, more private activities. She was on the bridge tonight for a watch as Officer of the Deck, so he had to get himself to sleep. He had tried watching a very boring movie (a boring and stupid political drama made in 2172) and it was starting to do the trick.

Derek yawned again drew the covers up over his bare chest, and just remembered to turn the movie off with his remote_. Can't have Nova getting in here at 0410 finding me asleep with a movie on; she never likes that_, he thought as he began to fall asleep. _We're still stuck in this stupid storm, so she'll probably be really tired and grumpy when she gets up here, having nothing to do all night but watch the ready crew and those dials...eerrrggg._

Captain Wildstar was asleep two minutes later. For a long time, he didn't dream anything...but, then, the dreams started.

* * *

"Nice _onsen_," he murmured, referring to a Japanese hot spring. Derek was dreaming of Great Island, and Nova was in the dream with him. Both of them were snuggled up like spoons in a hot spring, watching snow fall lazily from the clouds into the water.

"Did you and your parents always do this?" asked Nova, who was wearing nothing but a crystal necklace.

He nodded, snuggling up to Nova in only his skin. Their abandoned _kimono_ and wooden _geta _sat on a rock outcropping near the hot spring, near thick towels. Part of one of the outbuildings of the Buddhist healing shrine they were at stood off in the distance behind one of the snowy trees. "That last winter I was together with my parents, we came here around Christmas. It's amazing how they've rebuilt the place."

"It's beautiful," sighed Nova. She gave Derek a little smile, and stuck out her tongue.

"There you go, catching snowflakes on your tongue again," said Derek with his eyes rolling up a little. Nova giggled a bit at that.

"If you like that, have a look at what else I can do," she said with a smile. She stuck her foot up out of the steaming water, and caught a snowflake daintily on her big toe about a second later. "I never did that before. My parents tended to discourage my running around barefoot in the snow."

"Ever do it?"

"Oh, they've got some old pictures of me running out into the snow in nothing," giggled Nova. "I was about two at the time. I don't remember it, but I remember being embarrassed by those pictures of me in the snow with my tush showing. Your parents ever have any pictures like that of you?"

"Plenty of pictures with me in the bath as a toddler," laughed Derek. "Alex was holding me in quite a few of those pictures."

"That's nice," sighed Nova as she put her head back. "I wonder what your mother was like?"

* * *

In the oddball logic of dreams, Derek found himself at a picnic in front of his old family home a while later. He recognized the house...it was rebuilt...or maybe it had never been destroyed?

Part of him felt an odd chill when he noticed his mother there in the dream, kneeling in the grass in a mid-length skirt and white blouse without shoes. She was passing his father a hot dog that she had just put relish on.

"_Arigato_," said his father, who was in a golf shirt and shorts. He smiled, raising a glass to him and Alex.

To Derek's mild surprise, Alex was there beside him in the dream. Both he and Alex wore their EDF uniforms with their boots off, and they were eating sushi out of _obento_ boxes.

"So, how's she doing?" asked Derek.

"Fine," said Alex with a smile. Derek smiled to himself as he noticed his brother hugging Queen Starsha, who was there in jeans and a sleeveless top. The picnic gathering, Derek noticed, was filled out when he noticed Nova, in a short little white and pink sundress, pouring his mother some _sake_. A pair of summer shoes sat beside her in the grass

"So tell me," said Derek's father, Theodore Wildstar. "How did you decide to get Starsha to come here and visit at last?"

"We got her nice and drunk," giggled Nova. "When she woke up, she was on the ship, and we had made three warps, and I had dressed her in my clothes."

"So, what did you think?" asked Angelica Aikiko Wildstar, Derek's mother.

"I was very insulted," laughed Starsha. "Then, after Nova explained why I had been kidnapped by you, her, and Alex, I agreed to the trip. I have to be back on Iscandar in a month for a meeting, though."

"With whom?" asked Nova.

"The kids," she said.

"Okay, when are you two going to have children?" laughed Derek's father as he looked right at him and Nova.

"_Oooo_...now I'm getting it from both sides of the family," said Nova in mock pique. "You're as bad as my mother!"

"Honey, please don't insult your in-laws," laughed Derek's mother.

"All right, I'm sorry," said Nova. She got up, strapped her sandals on, and said, "Don't you need me to come with you to the bus stop?"

Derek's eyebrows went up. _There's something weird about that_, he thought. _But what is it?_

"Yes, we have to greet my brother Kazuo," said the elder Wildstar. "Derek, you, Alex, and Starsha man the picnic. Nova and I will be back with your mother in a few minutes?"

"Why are you going, Nova?" asked Derek.

"Your mother said she wanted to show me the oak tree under which she proposed to your father," said Nova. "It's a short walk; I'll be back in a few minutes, silly. You can live without me for _that_ long, can't you?"

"Guess so," said Derek glumly in the dream as Nova kissed him.

* * *

As an observer, Derek saw Nova leaning against the tree while his mother showed her where she had carved her initials and her father's initials years ago. They were carved inside a heart.

"See?" said Derek's mother. "Like that?'

"How romantic," said Nova. Her eyes brightened as she got an idea.

"Mr. Wildstar," asked Nova. "Do you have a penknife?"

"Yes, I do. Can I ask why you need it?"

"I'm going to surprise Derek in a few minutes after that bus comes," said Nova with a smile. She opened the knife and began to carve Derek's initials in the bark, followed by a '&' sign followed by her own.

Derek then saw his parents frantically gesturing towards Nova, who was lost in her little world carving a heart into the tree. His parents both screamed and grabbed each other, with his father grabbing Nova as a surprised afterthought.

Nova looked up at the sky and murmured, "_oh...my God!_"

She stood there with his parents watching the massive, ugly planet bomb blow in.

The bomb hit, and Derek watched in agony as all three of them were obliterated in a flash of light.

A while later, Derek stumbled alone up the hill. The sky was black, and he was looking at the ruins of the bus stop.

He fell to the ground, clutching at the scrap of his mother's torn, carbonized skirt as he had done in real life and in his dreams a thousand times beforehand. He picked it up, and some black dust fell out of it. _All that's left of her_, he thought. _Just like in real life._

But, then, his hand felt something else. He dug a half-burned ladies' thong-front sandal out of the ground a moment later. It was of a delicate designer style...the sort usually worn by a rather young woman. A small bit of black dust fell out of it a moment later, along with a scrap of semi-burned hair.

The hair was honey-blonde.

Then Derek Wildstar screamed, clutching at the last mortal remains of both Nova and his mother...

* * *

He was still screaming when the lights came on a moment later. Half-asleep, Derek heard the hatch slamming to loudly behind him.

Nova, looking almost as startled as Bambi, stood beside their bed in full uniform, looking down at him with shock and concern in her eyes.

"You're alive," muttered Derek. "Thank God."

"What were you dreaming _this_ time?" asked Nova with concern in her eyes as she sat down beside him on the bunk. She was learning how to deal with this, being no stranger to her husband's vivid nightmares.

"My parents...the bomb...and you," he said. "In this dream, you were obliterated along with my parents. It was horrible!" he yelled. "Why am I always dreaming about _death_?" he said as he slammed his fist into the pillow.

"Everyone has nightmares," said Nova soothingly. "You have a right to have yours, unfortunately. You've had a terrible past. I still remember, on the way to Iscandar, how you told me about your nightmares in the middle of the night once on the observation deck."

"I feel horrible," he said. "Especially when I wake up flailing at you like that in my sleep..."

"My dreams get pretty weird, too," said Nova as she walked over to her locker and began to undress for bed after dimming the lights again. "I've had this recurring one lately..." she said as she slipped out of her uniform, starting with the boots, then her top, then the leggings.

"Go ahead."

"I'm on a table, in that nightdress that Doctor Sane put me in when I had that coma after working the Cosmo-DNA," said Nova in a very soft voice that Derek had to strain to hear since she was across the room hanging up things in her locker. As she undid her bra, she said, "But in this dream, I woke up on that table under a sheet, like I was dead or something. Had a hard time breathing...couldn't move...and it was very, very cold," said Nova as she kicked her locker shut with a bare foot while clutching her arms around her body. In the dim light, Derek saw his unclad wife shivering for a moment before she came over and slipped under the covers with him. "You tell me what _that_ one meant. Wasn't I in a coma then?"

"That's what Doctor Sane told me," mused Derek. "Dead people usually don't come back like that," he said as she cuddled against his chest. "Death. That's what we've both been dreaming about. Death."

"I'd ask you to change position and celebrate life a bit, except you look exhausted," muttered Nova.

"You look bushed too. How was it on the bridge tonight?"

"Plenty of nothing going on except the storm," said Nova. "Now they're taking _bets_ as to when it's gonna end."

"You bet anything?"

"Lost my allowance in that poker game two nights ago," yawned Nova. "Good thing they didn't get the idea to play strip poker or I might've been sitting in the messhall in my underwear...if I had gone along with it. I wouldn't, of course. I _do_ have some self-respect."

"I'll loan ya some credits," said Derek.

"Thanks. I need my dainties from out of the machines during these long days."

"Hey. If I have a nightmare again...?"

"I'll snuggle up against you and assure you I'm alive. I'm a little hard to miss like this."

"Thanks. Night..."

"Nitey-nite, Derek," muttered Nova. She yawned and put her head on his chest.

Nova was out like a light in four minutes. For Derek, it took quite a bit longer. Finally, at some point, he went back to sleep.

He had no more nightmares that night.

* * *

In the meantime, Becky Voorhees, of the Living Group, was awake herself. She and her husband Todd had just had an intimate moment, but it was hard for her to get back to sleep.

"Can you tell me what's on your mind, Becky?" asked Todd.

"How's life on the second bridge?" she asked with a yawn.

"So far, we still haven't found a way out of this mess. We take scans every day, and we have the brass from bridge number one down there to assist every day, too. Just finished a shift on bridge number one at the helm, nothing happened. How's your world? Lot of people taking courses?"

"Well, your Education Officer just read two interesting papers. One was from Mister Hemsford on "_Nietzsche and the Superman_", the other was from Mrs. Wildstar on "_Holy War in World Religions_." Damn good papers. When do those two find the time to write stuff?"

"All we have right now is time, Becky," said Todd as he punched the pillow. "With this new wave motion engine, it should take a week, maybe a week and a half, for us to get to the Sanzar System. We can warp about 40,000 lightyears a day if we do two warps of 20,000 lightyears each. We've got the reserve and the power to get there faster, but we're stuck. Do you see why Navigation Group is the most hated Group on this ship right now, hon? Everyone is blaming us for getting stuck here."

Becky cuddled up to Todd's bare chest. "Yeah. Amazing we were even able to...make love...tonight. I'm so _tense_!"

"Want to snuggle some more?" asked Todd.

Becky giggled. "Silly question. We have no nightclothes; all we have to keep warm with is each other..."

"How did you forget our pajamas?" laughed Todd.

"I don't know?" said Becky as she pulled Todd up to her bare chest. "Design, maybe?"

"You would do that..."

Becky stuck her tongue out at her husband and laughed.

* * *

Holly Parsons sat on the deck in the ship's hydroponic garden, lazily playing with a flower. _It'll make a mess, but what the heck_, she said to herself. _Can't sleep anyway...that's why I'm wandering the ship_.

She began to pluck at the flower she had picked; a daisy. "He loves me, he loves me not. Mark loves me, Mark loves me not."

"Mark loves..."

"Hey...finally found you. I thought you'd be up now," said Commander Venture.

"Hi, Mark," said Holly listlessly. "What's up?"

"I...uh...err...umm...wanted to ask you something?"

"Which is?"

"I don't know how else to say this, Holly. Would you go out with me?"

Holly laughed. "He _finally_ asks," she said with a grin. "Loves me not," she said picking at the daisy. "Loves me," she said, pulling off the last petal. "Well, given that this ship isn't the most romantic place in the universe, where would you like to go?"

"How's about the holography room?" asked Venture. "We can go almost anywhere there."

"If you don't mind me wearing a dress and we can get a hologram of a Paris cafe, we can do it," said Holly. "When do you want to do it?"

"After our watches tomorrow?" he asked. "After all, Saturday night is supposed to be date night," said Venture.

"You try to arrange the time?" asked Holly.

"I'll talk with Nova later today. She's in charge of that sort of thing. I think she could arrange it."

"Cool," said Holly. She gave Mark a hug and a quick kiss. "That's for later, Mark."

Mark returned the kiss. "Hope we can make a go of this."

"Oh, I'm sure it'll work out," said Parsons.

* * *

II. RECON REVISITED

Deep Space

Around the Octopus Star Storm

Saturday, February 6, 2202

0914 Hours Spacetime

* * *

Tatiana Lubyanska was flying patrol with her squadron. She had two new wingmen; a pair of pilots named Dave Fox and Tranh Nguyen. Fox was a young man with blond hair; Nguyen was a little older.

"So, what have you observed out here?"

"Nothing," said Fox. "The storm's unchanged, space is as quiet as the grave."

"Nguyen?"

"Nothing here, either," he said.

Sakamoto's voice came over Lubyanska's headphones a moment later. "We've just gotten out here and I'm starting to feel more solar wind, as well as gasses. My wingman, McCloskey, says he's having trouble keeping her on course."

"Doesn't sound good," said Lubyanska. "Bell? What's with your flight? Bell?"

Tatiana waited one moment...two moments.

"Anyone know where Bell and his flight are? _Over..._" said Lubyanska.

There came only silence.

"Sakamoto?" asked Lubyanska.

"They went off my scope about a minute ago," he said.

"Damnit, we're _already_ short three pilots!" said Lubyanska. "Dash, request permission to return to the ship and abort patrol flight," she said over the radio.

"What's the problem?" asked the _Argo's_ Combat Group Leader.

"We've lost touch with Bell's flight. He was out the farthest."

"How's the storm?" asked Dash.

"Getting worse. We're having problems keeping a navigational fix on the ship," said Lubyanska, whose transmission was breaking up.

"Continue your search," said Dash a moment later.

"Belay that order!" snapped Captain Wildstar a moment later. "Lubyanska, get back in here. We can't afford to lose six more planes looking for three."

"Wildstar!" snapped Venture. "You're not just _leaving_ them out there, are you?"

"No...we're carrying on this search by other means," replied Derek as sweat ran down his face. He looked extremely unhappy. "Homer, put out a general hail on all frequencies; automated hail! Nova, you and Parsons begin scanning the ship for anything moving out there other than the planes of fourth squadron that we've accounted for. Lubyanska, get your planes in ASAP so we can conduct this search without interference from your squadron."

"Roger," said Tatiana in a rather disappointed voice. She understood the Captain's logic, but nothing said she had to _like_ it. "We're coming back in now 

A voice came in a moment later on the radio_. "Argo_. This is Miyama."

"Go ahead," said Homer as Wildstar, Venture, and Parsons ran over ran over. Miyama was one of the missing pilots.

"Wind pulled apart our whole flight. Bell smacked straight into some asteroid sucked up by the vortex; he's a goner. Compass isn't working for love nor money. What's your heading, guys...over?"

We'll have to talk him in, thought Parsons. She grabbed the headset off of Homer and said, "This is Holly Parsons, Navigation, first bridge. Our heading is RPX-345 by XT-43. Can you follow that? Over."

"I can home in on the radio direction finder. Just about the only damn thing I have working. Got your heading...trying to keep her on course. Not easy..."

"Stay on my voice beam," said Parsons as Homer gave her a very dirty look. "Heading's still the same. What's your thirty...over?"

"Don't know...coming in by sound..."

"I have him on radar!" cried Nova from her post. "He's a megameter out...at RPX-205 by XR-82. Have him swing upwards on your beam."

Venture took the headset from Parsons. "Miyama. Follow my voice. Home in on this signal we'll be putting out. Homer, can you get a 500 MHz tone up on this?"

"I would if you and Parsons would quit _leaning_ over me!"

"Homer, a man's life may count on your cooperation," said Venture. "Get that tone up now!"

"Aye, _aye_, Venture!" he replied in a sarcastic tone of voice. He worked some controls and said, "500 MHz tone is up and on."

"Nova. Did you get the other plane on radar yet?" asked Derek.

"Negative. No sign of Ensign Rigby's ship at all," said Nova in a very doleful voice. "Miyama's now just 4200 kilometers away from the ship."

"Got that tone?" asked Captain Wildstar.

"Got it," said Miyama a moment later. "Got you guys on visual now. Wind's really bad. Going to be hard getting into the upper landing tube."

"Consider this an emergency," said Derek. "Land in the lower bay; we can work around this later on."

"Roger."

Wildstar took the headset and gave it back to Homer. "Keep that tone up in case Rigby's still out there. And keep listening."

"Right," said Homer, with an angry glance at Venture.

"Still no sign of Rigby," said Nova. "Miyama's on final approach."

"Dash, have Flight Maintenance stand by with firefighting equipment in case he crashes on the way in."

"Right. What about the squadron on Alert-15?"

"Tell Hardy to cancel that flight. All flight ops are suspended until further notice. The storm's just too bad now," said Derek.

"Got it," said Dash.

* * *

Later that evening, Holly and Mark stood in the empty holography room while Nova fiddled with the playback unit.

"Can you get that Paris tape up?" said Venture.

"I can, I think," said Nova. "I was in Sickbay all day tending to people." she said. "Did they ever find Rigby?"

Mark shook his head, thinking: _What does it matter to us...run that damn tape, Nova... _while Holly's eyes filled up with tears. When he noticed her reaction, he felt like a heel for thinking that...

"Oh...I'm so sorry," said Nova softly. "He was a nice guy, too. We've been losing too many people on this cruise."

IQ-9 came through the hatch a minute later.

"Hi, Nova," he said.

"IQ, were you messing around with the computer down here again?" said Nova.

"She's having trouble getting up Paris," said Holly.

"What's the problem?" said Venture.

"Artifacts of Hawaii are stuck in the program," grumbled Nova. "Not bad if you want to see hula girls going down the _Champs-Elysees_ in front of your roadside cafe." She bent over the unit, pushing buttons.

IQ turned his dome towards Nova, with the lights going off like crazy. Then, he turned his dome towards Venture and Holly.

"IQ-9...don't you dare," snapped Venture.

"Don't you dare what?" cried Nova. She looked back at IQ-9 and saw he had his hand towards her backside. Nova flipped around just in time before IQ-9 could do anything else. "ARRGH! I swear...I can't take you _anywhere_!"

Venture just shook his head while Holly snapped. "Good thing _I'm_ not wearing a skirt today."

Nova finished the reprogramming and said. "Okay, guys, now you've got Paris. Push the green button on this when you're ready, you two."

"Take me there, Nova," said IQ-9 "Get us a reservation. Leave Wildstar behind. He's not a genius like me!"

"Ohhh...You need a new set of chips!" snapped Nova.

"Do not. I'm smarter than you, Nova. I am a hyper-genius. You have an IQ of 140. Mine is over 250!"

"I know enough not to molest people in _public!_" huffed Nova as she and the robot left the holography room, still bickering.

"I'm glad IQ-9 isn't bothering me," said Parsons after they left. "You wouldn't put up with that, would you, Mark?"

Venture shook his head. "Okay. Here comes Paris," said Venture as he hit the green button.

A roadside cafe appeared all around them a moment later. They pulled up two small shipboard chairs near a simulation of a round sidewalk table. A man in a beret played a romantic-sounding concertina just as a mime went down the sidewalk in the background.

An elegant-looking girl went down the sidewalk past them while Mark held Holly's hand. "I wish this place was real right now."

"Yeah...me, too," she said. "Wish I had a dress on instead of my uniform."

"You know that's a hazard on this ship now with IQ-9," laughed Mark.

"I'll take the risk to keep your eyes on me," giggled Holly.

"Your eyes," said Mark after a long pause. "They really look nice...you know that?"

"Thanks," she said softly.

A simulated waiter brought a bottle of champagne. It wasn't real, but Mark motioned for it to be put down.

"_Oui, M'sieur_" said the waiter.

"So, what do you want to do?" asked Holly.

"Do a toast to us...even though it's fake."

"You're cute," laughed Holly as she pretended to hold up a wine glass.

"Yeah...thanks," said Mark. He suddenly went quiet...with his mind going back towards...

Telezart, he thought. _Our time there in her castle. Trelaina. Oh, God, can't I ever get you out of my mind?_

he thought. 

"Mark?" asked Holly. "Mark? What's wrong?" she asked as she looked at his shadowed face.

"Nothing. Let's...make our toast..."

* * *

III. MORE CABIN FEVER

Deep Space

Around the Octopus Star Storm

Monday, February 8, 2202

1925 Hours Spacetime

* * *

"So, what do you think of the environment on the ship lately?" asked Captain Wildstar as he lay on a weight table in the gym doing a series of repititions with free weights. He had no shirt on, and his sweaty, muscular chest rippled as he worked.

"Well, given that the Marines had to break up three fights today, they're going crazy," said Nova as she twirled on her toes in a one-piece swimsuit. She tensed, and then kicked a workout bag hard with her right foot. _"Yaaaah!"_ she yelled.

"Not bad," said Derek with a smile. "I see you're adding more _judo _to your _Aikido_ moves."

"I remember that stupid Sparks overpowering me with his clammy hands," snapped Nova as she stood up on her toes and kicked at the bag again. "After everything that happened on Diamond Island, I swore to myself I'd rather go out fighting than let myself get attacked by a bunch of yahoos. Speaking of Yahoos, there's IQ-9. Remember the wedding rehearsal?"

"He pulled _that_ again?" said Derek.

Nova said, "Almost. I got around just in time. I really let him have it, though. Next time he does that, I swear, I should knock him on his little metal behind. That's one reason I'm practicing," said Nova as she screamed again and kicked at the bag. "Left a deeper dent in it this time. Good. Very good," she said with a winning smile.

"What's the other reason you're practicing?" said Derek as he grunted at his weights.

"Same reason you've got your weights, Derek. I'm bored," said Nova. "Wanna spar with me? I promise not to make it hurt."

"Not in your swimsuit, hon," said Derek. "You're too unprotected in that."

"Yeah, you're right," sighed Nova as she looked down at herself. The swimsuit was meant for the ship's sunroom; it was a conservative racing suit, but it _did_ fit her like a second skin. Even though she was covered, a good bit of her slender figure showed through the material.

"Nova, where is your _gi_, anyway?"

"My martial arts uniform is in the wash," giggled Nova. "After this, I'm going to the sunroom. Want to join me? You can go like that...bare-chested."

"Whyzzat?"

"You'd be cool, and I _like_ looking at you like that," said Nova as, off in the corner, two Space Marines dressed in only their green and black uniform pants went "_Wooooooo_."

"Button your lips, gentlemen! This officer is _taken_!" snapped Derek, who noticed, with some annoyance, that Hemsford wasn't around to control his bunch. The Marine Group was well-disciplined when he was around, but, now and then, some members of the Group could be a bit undisciplined.

"Yessir," they said in unison. Nova noticed that they were whispering among themselves a moment later. To make a point, she screamed again and kicked the bag with both feet, landing gracefully on the mat in a somersault.

"Not bad for a lady fighter," said one of the marines. "The Marines could use new blood, ma'am."

"No thanks," said Nova briskly. "I like sleeping in a bed, not in a hole someplace. Derek, let's go."

"Okay," he said as he threw a towel over his shoulders and picked up his shirt.

A little while later, Nova was kneeling on top of Derek as he lay on his stomach in the sunroom, in his uniform pants, skivvies, and nothing else. His boots and shirt sat abandoned in a pile near the sandals Nova had kicked on for her walk to this compartment.

"You're using more suntan lotion than usual," said Derek as he shut his eyes. Nova was busy rubbing his bare back.

"You need plenty of lotion and a massage," she replied cheerfully. "You've got so much tension in your muscles!"

"About that party you mentioned," sighed Derek. "It's a good idea...but I'm not so sure of the timing. We don't need as much in the way of supplies as we did on our first mission to Iscandar, so we're okay from the supply viewpoint, but..."

"Yes?"

"Didn't you and Royster say we needed to watch the storm more carefully? Didn't you say it seemed to be picking up this morning?"

"Last we checked it, it had gone back down again. It is very unpredictable and more violent..."

The hatch whizzed open, and Doctor Sane came in, in his _geta_ and a kimono. He was followed by IQ-9, who was himself wearing a swimsuit.

"IQ, what's the big idea?" said Nova.

"I need my sun, too," he said. "I need my light for my diurnal cycles, and the ultraviolet so I can produce vitamin D."

"You're a robot, you don't need that stuff," huffed Nova. "And what's with the _swimsuit_?"

"I just made it. I just found out I can't sunbathe nude on this ship like I used to. Ha ha!" said IQ-9 as Sane stripped off his kimono to reveal his skivvies.

Nova looked at her husband and rolled up her eyes.

"Yeah," muttered Derek. "IQ's definitely ninety degrees eccentric."

"IQ-9, you don't need clothes," huffed Nova. "It's a waste of material."

"So's your swimsuit, Nova," retorted IQ-9.

"What?" cried Nova. "IQ...I need something _on_ to cover myself when I catch ultraviolet on this ship."

IQ's dome flashed like crazy. It was obvious he was considering something in his circuits. "I have a retort on the tip of my speaker, but I won't say it."

"Good," huffed Nova. "Now would you let me finish my husband's back before he burns?"

IQ's dome flashed again. "Right. You married. Him. I'm sorry."

All of his lights went dark.

"What's with him?" said Derek.

"I think he shut himself down until after you two leave," said Sane. "Nova, I think he again realized what your wedding band means."

Nova looked at her finger. "I think so, too. Derek, maybe we should forgive him. He's still healing, so to speak."

"If he does that again...don't know what I'll do," said Wildstar. Both he and his wife shrugged.

"Derek, let's go," said Nova. "They've got some great food in the messhall tonight. I recommend the _yakisoba_."

"Why?"

"I helped Cookies make it," she said with a smile. "We do have to go up our cabin and dress for dinner, I believe."

"Well, let's go," said Derek.

He and Nova left arm-in-arm.

Dr. Sane tapped on IQ-9's dome. "IQ. Hey, you! They're gone. Are you reading me?"

The robot's lights came back on as he came up out of his "sleep" mode.

"I put myself to sleep," said IQ-9. "I can't bear to watch it when Mrs. Wildstar and the Captain get all cuddly."

"Why not?"

"Nova and the Captain are human beings and married. I am a...robot...I'd rather not discuss this with you, Doctor Sane. Goodbye."

On that note, IQ-9 left.

"Wot's with _him_, Doc?" asked a particularly moronic Space Marine.

"I think he's suffering from a broken heart," said Sane thoughtfully.

"He don't have no heart ta break," said the beetle-browed Marine, who looked like he wasn't particularly bright as he scratched his freckled, whey-skinned cheek. "Uh...does he?"

"The dame broke his heart, I think, Lenny," said the other Marine. "I know one Marine who survived the previous mission. The robot had it bad for that dame for ages, I heard."

"I think he still does," said Sane in a sad voice as he wiped his glasses.

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED WITH ACT THREE-"_We've Gotta Get Outta This Place..._"

* * *

THERE ARE NOW 108 DAYS TO THE ARRIVAL OF EKOGARU IN EARTH'S SOLAR SYSTEM

* * *


	3. Chapter 3

* * *

**ALTERNATE TALES OF THE STAR FORCE**

STAR BLAZERS---RETURN TO THE GREAT MAGELLENIC CLOUD

Being the seventh part of THE RIKASHA INCIDENT--- BY: Frederick P. Kopetz

* * *

ACT THREE--WE'VE GOTTA GET OUTTA THIS PLACE.

* * *

I. REVENGE IS A DISH BEST SERVED COLD

The Edge of the Great Magellenic Cloud

The Pogi System

200 Lightyears from the Sanzar System

Wednesday February 10, 2202

* * *

The old blue Gamilon space battleship _Domeraze III_ hovered in the orange sky of the dusty desert world of Pogi, which was where an old semi-abandoned Gamilon base was located. That base was now an area base of the partly cyborgized General Lysis, who had pronounced himself the Chancellor of the Gamilon Empire, assuming that Desslok was dead.

"Well, Volgarr?" growled Lysis. "Did you hear from Hervis yet?"

"I just heard from him a while ago, Lysis," snarled Volgarr.

"To what result?"

"He says that space has been silent. The _Argo_ has not been sending out any communications. However, he reports that communications have been picked up from a fleet near the edge of the Milky Way Galaxy. He thinks they might be heading towards us."

"Whose fleet?" asked Lysis.

"Unidentified. Do you wish the scout squadron to initiate a search?"

Lysis stood snarling. "The _Argo_ was supposed to be on its way back to Iscandar, the last we heard a transmission from them. Chances are, they will take much the same course they did the first time...right towards us. I would love to waylay them before they arrive at Iscandar...or..."

"Yes?"

"Take them by surprise when they enter the Sanzar System," mused Lysis. "Slaughter the accursed Star Force within sight of their goal. Kill them, and wipe their rebuilt Earth battleship across the Cosmos!'

"Yes," smiled Volgarr.

"Now, let us begin planning the mission. Ask that scout squadron to find the _Argo_ but order them to merely observe it until they cruise into our trap. We have time."

On that note, both men laughed.

* * *

II. CHA'RIF'S LATEST MEDITATION

The Edge of the Milky Way Galaxy

The Site of Telezart

Wednesday February 10, 2202

* * *

"This place," said Cha'rif as he stood on the bridge of the _B'eoneraze_ "There's an odd air about it, Ter'garv."

Ter'garv nodded. "I agree with you. But, what is it?"

"A ghost, perhaps. Perhaps not. Hard for me to say," said Cha'rif.

"Where's the _Argo?_"

"Aliscea's presence is many thousands of lightyears out, Ter'garv. She is mocking me, mocking me...like a presence one feels when one shuts their eyes and feels the starlight burning on them in midday in the desert. So it is with her. I feel her, but know only the general direction."

"Which way should we go?"

Cha'rif walked over to his ship's stellar compass, which sat in a pillar near the Navigation station. "Have the Navigator continue to take us in this direction," he said, putting his hand on the outer globe of the compass. A light appeared in the compass near a star cluster. "There is a huge area of tangled, forming stars almost halfway between here and the Great Magellenic Cloud in this location. That is where Aliscea is. We can get a better bead on her from that area, and then, capture her, or finish off the _Argo_. I have about three hundred ships this time. As much as it disgusts me, I have my orders."

"Yes, Baron..."

* * *

III. OVER COFFEE ONE DAY

The Octopus Star Storm

Space Battleship _Argo_

First Bridge

Wednesday February 10, 2202

1121 Hours: Spacetime

* * *

Captain Derek Wildstar looked at his Command console and sighed. "Well, guys," he said. "We're still stuck. Sandor, what did Royster find out about the storm?"

"Just as bad as ever," said Sandor. "I'll send you the technical scan."

A moment later, a complex scan appeared at Derek's post on one of his screens. "The eye's moved," he observed.

"Yes, but the wind's picked up right in front of us," said Sandor. Sandor left his post and walked over to the Captain's station while Wildstar pulled up a data readout on stellar wind projections from the ship's computer.

Derek said, "We've observed a hundred stars like this one, and it seems we're sitting in front of one of the Universe's worst messes. I think when we get out of here and get back home, we should have Earth Defense mark this area as off-limits as a navigational hazard, even if another ship going out to Iscandar someday has to take a few more days to warp around this cluster."

"Good idea," said Sandor. "Not a bad set of projections, either, Captain. You're getting good at this."

"I've been boning up on physics again," said Derek. "Not that I have much _else_ to do."

The hatch opened on the ship's starboard side, and Nova appeared, smiling and pushing a cart loaded with a coffeepot, cups, and supplies.

"Oh, thanks," said Derek with a smile. "I asked for that, Nova. Coffee break, everyone!"

"Oh, you're welcome, Derek," she replied with a cheery smile. "Nice to see you're not grumpy today. It's much nicer not to complain all the time, isn't it?"

"Right. You've taught me there's a bright side to everything."

"Wonderful," said Nova with a pleased smile. She poured a cup of coffee, adding some sugar, and merrily stirring it. "There you go, Captain."

"Thanks."

As she walked off with the cart, humming to herself, the Captain sipped at the coffee and looked very contented. "I needed a pick-me-up," he murmured happily.

"You _like_ her stuff?" said Sandor in a whisper.

"She makes the best space java in the Fleet, Steve," smiled Derek. "You mean you don't like it?"

Uh oh, thought Sandor. _How do we tell him most of the crew thinks it's too strong? He must like strong coffee._

thought Sandor. 

"Who else wants some?" said Nova.

"I'll take it," said Holly. "Lots of creamer, please."

"Delicate palate, huh?" asked Nova.

"You know that, you nerd," said Holly with a smile.

"I am not a nerd, I am a biologist," sniffed Nova indignantly with a hint of a smile. "You try doing all my jobs, Parsons."

"All you do is have your nose in those books."

"Holly, please grow up." said Nova pleasantly.

"We're the same age," she said as she took her coffee.

"Nope, five months older," said Nova in a snappy response. "Grow up, kid."

"Where'd she learn to talk like that?" asked Dash.

Wildstar shrugged. "You know, I'm not really sure," he said with a grin. Nova stopped at Venture's post and said, "Lots of milk. You like it real light, right?"

"Uh-uh," he said. As Nova poured his coffee, he turned around in his chair "Hey, Derek! Remember that idea we were discussing the other day?"

"You mean the smoker, Mark?" said Captain Wildstar.

"_No_," said Lieutenant Wildstar firmly while she stirred the coffee.

"Yes," said Venture.

"_No_," said Nova in a more emphatic tone of voice as she sipped at her own cup on the far right of the wheeled trolley.

"Maybe," said Wildstar.

"_Derek_!" snapped Nova. "Still _no_." She sat down on the arm of Dash's chair for a moment to face Venture and sip at her coffee.

"What are you guys talking about?" asked Rosstowski.

"Having a smoker," said Venture.

"What's that?"

"A round o' shipboard fights," said Orion. "We talked about that once on the way to Iscandar, lad."

"Good," said Homer. "I know some _people_ I wouldn't mind fighting in the ring."

"See why I'm opposed, Derek?" said Nova while Venture glared at Homer. "You mention the word 'fight' on this ship and half the crew has grudges they want to settle."

"That's why it's a good idea, Nova," said Venture. "We've all been on edge ever since we've been stuck here. How long have we been becalmed here again?"

"You should remember, Mark," said Nova. "Nineteen days as of today."

"Yeah...nineteen days worth of looking at all your faces with nothing to do," said Dash.

"Dash, do you want coffee?" said Nova.

"Yeah...but please get your butt out of my face?" he said. "You're still on the arm of my chair, Lieutenant."

"Dash, you need your glasses cleaned!" sang Nova. "My posterior was _not_ near your face."

"That's why we need this smoker," said Rosstowski. "Dash and Nova can be the first round."

"No, no, no. You're silly, Paul!" said Nova. She poured Dash some coffee and began to add what she knew he'd need. "Derek, what about that party? Or the fashion show? The concert? The musical?"

"Musical?" said Homer.

"I thought we could do a shipboard operetta or something. We have people here who can sing, Derek...Mark!"

"Yeah. Let's do _Aida_ or stage _Hamlet_ and litter the stage with bodies in the last act," snorted Dash.

"Quiet, Dash," sang Nova as she honked his nose.

"_Ouch!_ And you said you're into non-violence!" said Dash.

"Gently tweaking someone's nose is not violent. It's cute," giggled Nova.

"Your idea might be kinda cute, Nova," said Orion. "Irish Cream, please. You make it good, lass."

"Thank you, Orion!"

Sandor spoke up. "The smoker sounds like it might be a good idea, Captain."

"Then how do we do it?" mused Derek.

"If we do it, I might swim home," said Nova. "I detest fistfights and the damage they cause to people's faces."

"How's about if we put it up to a crew vote?" asked Venture. "Captain?"

"I'll send out an e-mail today," said Derek.

"Put me down as _no_, with a comment that you guys need to _grow up_," said Nova.

"Put me down as yes," said Holly. "Can I fight Nova, Captain?"

"Holly, you're giving me a bad hair day," sang Nova. "Paul, you want coffee?"

"Hmm...okay," said Rosstowski.

"How are you and Aliscea doing?" asked Nova in a low voice.

"She's hearing this argument through our link and she thinks we're all silly."

"If she wants silly, I'll look at the old tapes in the computer and give her a Silly Walk, Paul."

"You see?" said Derek. "Guys...we're going rammy out here. We need some entertainment."

"Homer's our entertainment," said Dash.

"I am not!" he whined.

"You want coffee?' said Nova.

"Not from _you_," snorted Homer. "It has cooties."

"_Cooties?_" said Nova with crossed eyes and a scowl.

"Everybody knows girls have cooties," giggled Homer.

"Chauvinist," huffed Nova. "I know where I'm not wanted!" She quickly walked away towards the port side hatch with her nose in the air.

"Hey, don't go yet," said Derek.

"Yes?"

"Second helping, please?" said Derek with gentle eyes.

"Sure," said Nova in a soft voice while stopping to pour Derek his coffee and give it to him. "I think you and Orion are the only ones up here who like my coffee today."

"I'm not unhappy," said Sandor. "I could use more, too."

"Thank you," said Nova. "Here's yours, Steve." While the rest of the bridge crew turned to teasing Holly and Homer (Dash was trying to get her to go on a date with him) Nova asked. "Guys...please reconsider that fight? We don't need people hurt."

"They've been fighting already," said Derek. "What's better...fighting in the passages, or regulated fighting in a ring for one night on Saturday?"

"Both of them are evils. I guess the second is the lesser of two evils, Derek. If the whole crew's against me, that is..."

"We'll have to see how that vote goes. Love you."

"You too," she said quickly with downcast eyes.

"What's the problem?"

"You could've spoken up for me a bit more, sir," said Nova with an unhappy look on her face. "See you later, Derek."

"Oh...I'm sorry...uh...Nova!"

She left quickly without turning around.

"Oh, great," said Wildstar. "Venture, you take the conn for a minute!" he yelled out.

"Hey, Derek...patch it up later," said Sandor. "She's not about to divorce you, and you know that."

"I've already given the conn to Venture," said Captain Wildstar as he got up. "If I can talk to Knox outside like I did that time on the way towards Brumus, I can sure talk to...one of my veteran officers."

He left.

* * *

"Nova!" called Derek in the foyer as he ran down the steps towards the elevator. "Wait!"

"_Yes?_" said Nova in a cool voice after hitting the button for the lift.

"Nova, are you angry with me?"

"Angry, no. I'm _upset_. I thought you'd stick up for me more! You know, with everyone being so childish!"

"Nova...I should have said more in your favor earlier. I'm sorry. I'll take Homer to task and ask him why he had to act so damn stupid."

"Will you do the same with Dash and Parsons?"

Derek nodded.

"Good. As long as you stick up for me, I won't be mad. You'd think Homer and Dash would show me some more respect after all these years, don't you?"

"Yeah."

"Cooties," grumbled Nova. "I can't believe that Homer. He said I have lice! That's what cooties are, Derek. Lice! I do _not _have lice. He reminds me of someone from grammar school! Particularly with his attitudes. Particularly after I spent three hours counseling him the other day."

The lift came. "Are you coming?" said Nova as she held the door.

"No...I have to talk to some people," growled Derek. "People I am not gonna be happy with."

"Good. Meet me at lunch at thirteen hundred. You might like it."

"Why?"

"Let's just say...I have a surprise planned," said Nova with a slow smile. "See you later!"

She blew her husband a kiss and left.

* * *

"Parsons...Dash, Homer Glitchman..." said Captain Wildstar with an angry look on his face as he looked at the three of them lined up at attention before him on the first bridge as the others watched. "There are times when some of the things you three do turn me off."

"Sir, I'm sorry I teased the Lieutenant, and I'm ready to apologize to her later when I see her again," said Dash.

"Please do be," said Wildstar. "This isn't the first time you guys have locked horns on this voyage. It's getting old, Dash. Thank God _she_ held her temper and acted like a professional officer this time."

"Again, I'm sorry...sir," said Dash.

"Good, hold that for a bit, Mister. Miss Parsons," said Wildstar. "You're about the least of our problems. I know you and Nova are friends and like to kid around, but please don't call your senior officers names? Like, you know, 'nerd'?"

"Sir, I'm very sorry. I won't do it again," said Holly.

"Okay," said Wildstar as he noticed how contrite Parsons looked. "You and Dash can both return to your posts. Let this be a lesson to both of you!"

"Yessir," they said. As they left, Derek faced Homer. "Homer...do you know what cooties are, Lieutenant?"

"Something that girls have," snickered Homer.

Wildstar clenched his fist to keep from slapping Homer. He stared into the man's eyes and saw that he was totally _serious_.

"Homer, where did you learn that girls...as you put it...have so-called 'cooties'?"

"In school, sir. I never learned anything different."

"Homer, have you gone out with a girl before?"

Homer looked at Wildstar and the crew in silence. He suddenly felt very uncomfortable. "No, sir," he said in a low voice while looking down at his shoes.

"I see we need to explain a great deal to you, Homer. This seems to be a problem you have. First, on the way to Telezart, you were ragging Venture when he wanted to use your console to speak with Trelaina."

"Sir, it's not proper to use ship's equipment to ...to...make time with some _girl_, sir."

Venture got up with a scowl on his face. "Commander, _sit_!" snapped Wildstar. "This is _my_ job right now. Got it?"

"Derek, how would you feel if he had just disrespected Nova like that?" snapped Mark.

"That's what I'm working up to, Venture! _Chill_!"

"Aye, aye, _sir_..." said Mark with a tightly set mouth.

"Okay, Homer," said Wildstar. "Venture needed to speak to Trelaina to get a navigational fix on Telezart. That was a legitimate mission need, in case you've forgotten. Mark's falling in love with her was just...well...a byproduct of our mission. A very important one...a legitimate one...but he and Trelaina weren't our mission. He wasn't using your board as a dating service. Likewise, Lieutenant Wildstar is a legitimate officer aboard this ship. Something I learned from Captain Avatar is that officers treat each other with respect. It was a hard lesson, but one we had to learn. Venture and Orion learned that lesson well after they had a fight. I learned to get along with Venture and work with him. Likewise, you have to learn to get along with every person on this bridge. Saying that Lieutenant Wildstar is carrying lice, which is what cooties are, and saying that her coffee is unsanitary is very disrespectful to her. It shows little regard for her professionalism, her standards of personal care, or her gender. The fact that I am married to the woman is secondary. As far as I'm concerned as Captain, you were just being very sexist and inconsiderate to a member of my bridge crew. You will apologize to her today via e-mail. It is up to her whether or not she wishes to accept. Got it?"

"I'm...sss...sss...s...sorry, sir! I'll write that letter _now!_" And, at that, he broke ranks and began to run off the bridge wailing with his hands in his hair.

"Homer! I didn't dismiss you yet!" yelled Derek. "Glitchman! Get back here!"

But, Homer just tore off the bridge and ran out the port side hatch.

"Not _again_," sighed Orion. "I hope he doesn't try t' swim home like last time, Captain."

"No great loss," sniffed Venture.

Derek walked up to Mark and put a hand on his shoulder. "Mark, I know you have a chip on your shoulder against him, with good reason. Please get rid of that chip, Venture?"

"I'll..._try_," said Venture as he sat down with a huff.

Wildstar sat down at his post. He pushed up the microphone, and said, on the intership PA system, "_Attention, all hands. Lieutenant Junior Grade Glitchman has just thrown some kind of fit. For his own safety, it is imperative that you find him and escort him to Sickbay when he is found so that he can be treated. Please report to me on your progress_."

And, on that note, Derek turned back to his instruments. What he had on his mind was lunch.

* * *

Later on that day, Captain Wildstar sat down to lunch.

He turned around to face Dash, who was sitting behind him. "Hey, Dash, any sign of Homer?"

"Nope."

"Who's manning Communications?"

"I'm not sure. One of Homer's alternates."

"I think it was Michaelson, sir," said a woman before them with light brown hair who wore glasses and the colors of either Living or Communications.

"You are?"

"Tech Sergeant Katrina Banks, sir, Communications. I was just working with Ensign Michaelson a while ago. Is Lieutenant Glitchman still missing, sir?"

Wildstar nodded. "Unfortunately, yes."

"Lousy break," said a familiar figure who sat down next to Banks.

"Rosstowski! Want to join me?" asked Captain Wildstar.

"No, sir. I'm saving the seat across from me for Aliscea."

"Yeah. I'm waiting for Nova and Venture myself, Paul."

"I see."

IQ-9 came down the aisle between the tables with a tray. He stopped by the Captain's table and said, "Can I sit down here to eat, sir?"

"IQ-9, you don't need to eat!" said Wildstar, as, across from them, Bryan Hartcliffe and Shigeru Sakamoto guffawed loudly. Angie Hartcliffe stared ahead, murmuring "you juveniles," under her breath.

"Yes, I do need to eat," insisted IQ-9. "Look at my menu. It consists of lasagna, minus sauce, a huge bottle of spring water..."

"Sake," muttered Wildstar to correct him.

"Spring water...a silicone compound for my joints...a battery, assorted nuts and bolts."

"IQ-9, you don't need to ingest food!"

"Yes, I do. Captain. Observe!"

IQ-9 began to throw lasagna all over his dome. "See! It's yummy, Captain!"

Behind Wildstar, Sergeant Banks giggled. At her table, Angie Hartcliffe shook her head.

"IQ-9, I order you to pick that crud up off the deck!" snapped Derek. "Someone's going to slip on it."

"Yes, sir...I'll get right to...it...it..." began IQ-9, but then he stopped as every sensor in his dome went off. "I can't! My infrared senses an utter vision of beauty coming into the wardroom! Beauty! Beauty! I'm paralyzed...ohhh..."

A minute later, the hatch whizzed open, and in walked Lieutenant Nova Wildstar...wearing a dress.

Not just any dress. It was the exquisite white dress trimmed with pink that Derek had seen in her closet early on in the mission. It looked gorgeous on her as she walked, and her pink heels clicked lightly on the deck as she stopped and twirled in her dress, which flowed lightly along her bare legs with a whisper of silk.

"This is a spring creation, just perfect for Iscandar," said Nova. "It's a cross between 20th century French and East Indian national costume, perfect for a walk along the warm breezy hills outside of Mother Town. My necklace was given to me for Christmas by my wonderful husband; it's an Iscandarian diamond in blue. My sandals were bought in 1967 America on that strange trip we made earlier in the mission. Does everyone like my ensemble?"

Quite a few people whistled, and more cheered as Nova walked up to Derek's table and said, "Modeled just for you by Lieutenant Nova Wildstar. She walked her fingers towards Derek on the table and said, "Captain, do I make a nice model?"

Derek smiled. "Uhh...err...whoa...Nova...this is a surprise..."

She smiled at Derek and bent over the table to kiss him as the whole gathering applauded. Quite a few people said, "How cute!"

"Hey! Nova! Can I borrow that?" called out Banks. "I want to impress _my_ boyfriend."

"Captain, can I have the model's autograph?" someone called out.

"Can I have a lock of her hair?" yelled out someone else.

"Hey, IQ!" yelled Hartcliffe as he got up and stood behind the robot. "What'cha gonna do?"

"No," said Derek.

"IQ, do yer thing, man!" yelled Hartcliffe. He slapped IQ's dome.

"No, please!" said Nova. To her relief, IQ-9 only stood there blinking at her. "Logic error...Logic error..." he muttered. "Major programming conflict. Nova...you are cute. But you are married to the Captain."

"By George, I think he's getting it, Derek," said Nova lightly. "IQ...what can't you do?" said Nova in a soft voice while holding Derek's hand.

"Bother you. I want to...touch you...flip your skirt...but...I can't. It...isn't...right. Not...right...you're too...beautiful. You're also the captain's beloved. _He_ could bother you! He could do all of the above!"

"Uh...not _here_," said Nova with a deep blush as some of the crew laughed. "But since you were so good, I'll give you a kiss."

Nova bent over IQ-9 to smooch him on the dome. As she did so, Hartcliffe pushed him aside a little. "Okay, killjoy," he said with a leer and a wink to Angie that she didn't like. "If you won't do it..."

Nova pivoted angrily on her toes as Derek jumped up, guessing what would happen but not quite believing this pilot would have the sheer gall to...

"I'LL BLOODY DO IT!"

Bryan Hartcliffe's hand shot out and he grabbed for Nova's behind, trying to get a handful of her skirt so he could humiliate her. Fire flashed in Nova's eyes at once. She freed herself from his hand and slapped him across the face as the crowd laughed and cheered. Then, she shut her eyes in shame, pivoted, and ran for the door...

Derek jumped over the table to confront Hartcliffe, just as one of Nova's shoes caught a piece of ravioli that IQ-9 had thrown on the deck earlier. She slipped and landed hard on one knee with a sound between an enraged scream and a sob.

Utterly humiliated, she bowed her head and began to weep in a ball right there on the deck.

The laughter and clapping abruptly stopped. The general consensus in the room was that this was NOT funny. Not in the least. Despite the teasing, Nova was both a veteran and a particularly well-liked member of the Star Force. Her dedication, intelligence, kindness, and beauty had won her a lot of friends on that ship.

The eyes that turned on Hartcliffe weren't friendly. The reaction was as if close to a hundred men and women had just seen some bully make their beloved big sister cry, which basically was what had just happened.

So, there were cheers when Captain Derek Wildstar lashed out and just let Hartcliffe have a good one in the mouth. The stunned pilot fell to the deck, banging his head so hard against the deck that he was knocked out at once. Then, after laying out Hartcliffe, Derek ran over and threw his arms around Nova, comforting her with soft words that no one else could hear. She shivered tentatively as she wept, and then she threw her arms around her husband in utter joy as he let her sob into his chest.

"DON'T disturb them!" said IQ-9. "Sakamoto, don't you DARE touch Nova!" he said, holding out his metal arms as Sakamoto ran up.

"I wanna check out Hartcliffe," he said.

"Get away from me. You're _his_ stupid friend! You probably think it's funny to see women hurt, _don't _you?" said Nova in a bitter voice that not too many members of the crew had heard before. Then, as the crew watched with concern, Derek helped Nova sit up...and pulled up her skirt just a little...to look at her right knee.

"Can you move it?"

"Yeah...just skinned...hurts, though."

"Move your leg..."

Nova did so.

"Can you get up?"

"Shaking," she sobbed. "Must be the adrenaline..."

Derek solved the problem in a hurry by sweeping Nova up in his arms. "I'll get you right to Sickbay, honey."

"Thanks," she said. "Some fashion show, _huh_?"

Wildstar looked at Dash. "Dash, Rosstowski, you're both in charge. Get Marines and medics up here ASAP. Get that miserable _pilot_ to Sickbay. Under guard. The man's under arrest. I'll post you later on Nova's condition."

"Yessir."

As the wardroom buzzed, Derek carried Nova out of the room. The Lieutenant had her eyes shut as she snuggled herself close to her Captain and husband.

Angie Hartcliffe left out another door. She completely ignored her inert husband, thinking, _You jackass. How dare you do that to my friend? What the hell were you thinking, Bryan? And if you're gonna grab at anyone's skirt, let it be mine. You scumbag! You're lucky I don't leave you for this!_

* * *

In Sickbay, Nova sat on an examining table with her leg up as Doctor Sane looked at her knee. She winced a little as he squeezed it, but the Doctor smiled.

"Nothing's broken or bruised," he said with a sigh. "Just a little nick to clean up," he said while dabbing the bare knee with some alcohol. Then, he used an antiseptic stick on it while Nova squeezed her husband's hand. "Pretty dress," he commented as he let her skirt back down. "You're a very lucky man, Captain," said Sane with a smile. "Now why do you want to give me more work like this by having that moronic smoker?"

"Hartcliffe doesn't seem to think I'm so lucky," said Derek angrily, ignoring Sane's dig about the smoker. "We have here a man who assaults officers, treats women like his own playthings, and deserved every bit of what we gave him."

"We?" said Sane. "Who?"

"That handprint on his face is from _me_, Doctor Sane," huffed Nova. "After he...touched me, I let him have it! Then Derek laid him out. Good for him! For once, just _once_, I approve of his temper," she said with love in her eyes as she gazed at Derek. "How _is _that Hartcliffe?"

"Well, he has a minor concussion, but he should be up in a day or so," said Sane.

"Good. If he is, I'll finish what he started in the fighting competition on Saturday night," said Derek. "Getting it in front of the whole crew will be his punishment."

"Fighting competition?" asked Sane. "You mean you approved that thing?"

"What Becky and I were talking about after I calmed down," said Nova. "So far, the poll we started seems to favor a fighting competition on Saturday night before we get out of this storm. Not bad."

"I thoroughly disapprove, Wildstar!" snapped Sane. "All you want to do is create more work for us! We have enough going on already without what we'd have from an organized fight! Even though, granted, I worked one summer as a boxing referee in medical school when I couldn't get work as a barber!"

"Nova, you approve, now?" said Derek with a raised eyebrow.

"No, I still don't approve. But now, I don't disapprove either, Derek."

A moment later, IQ-9 came in carrying a huge tray.

"Captain, Nova, you both need to eat. I brought both of you servings of ravioli, salad, gelatin, and tomato juice from Nova's wonderful tomatoes." The robot set down the tray and pulled off a cover. "Dig in." Then, he left.

"Nova?" said Derek as he rolled up his eyes.

"I'll dig in," she said. "Forgot I was hungry. After I did my runway turn, I was down below there to eat, Derek."

"Why'd you do that? Put on that dress?" asked Wildstar as they both ate their lunch.

"To cheer everyone up," said Nova in utter innocence. "Everyone's been arguing so much lately, that I thought a little summer sweetness would be appreciated. Seems not _everyone_ thinks so," she said as her voice hitched again. "What that Hartcliffe did was worse than what IQ-9 ever did. IQ-9, for all of his annoying actions, is at least sweet and sort of cute. And he's a robot. He doesn't know any better! People do. People should know better than to act like that. You don't know how hot this makes me, Derek. If you weren't fighting that Hartcliffe on Saturday, than I think _I'd_ do it!"

"Nova...I'm...I don't know what to say."

"I've had enough of just sitting around and crying when something bad happens. This whole mission has been driving me out of my mind. An implacable enemy like Ekogaru and those Rikashans whom you can't even reason with. The same goes for my aunt and her rotten cult that they use! An enemy that tortures and enslaves children, rapes women, and pillages and destroys cities where innocent people live and commits genocide is worse than cruel as far as I'm concerned. Desslok was right. Our enemy is _evil_ personified! And all I'm seeing around me is evil. It's even here on this ship. I've had enough. I don't know what I'm gonna do, yet, but I've had enough!" cried Nova as she banged the examining table as hard as she could. "_Enough!"_

"You're sounding like me," quipped Derek.

"And why shouldn't I?" raged Nova. "I'm not all sweetness and light. Try hurting innocent people...try hurting those closest to me, try hurting you, the man I love...and try hurting me... and I can get mighty ticked_ off_!"

"Nova, excuse me for sounding silly, but if I were Ekogaru...I wouldn't want to be in the same room with you right now! You _go_, girl!" said Derek with a pleased grin on his face.

"Thanks for understanding me!" said Nova with a big grin. Then, she looked at Hartcliffe. _Still out cold_, she thought. _Good._

"When we have that fight, do you need a corner manager, Derek?"

"Uhhh...yeah!"

"Good, you've got one!" she said with a smile as she threw herself into her husband's lap and hugged him.

"Nova, you're crazy!" said Sane. "All right, I might be a referee, but only if I'm allowed to have some of my special Spring Water!"

"Who's gonna be my corner person?" said Wildstar, not getting it. He was having thoughts of calling the whole smoker off.

"Me, silly." At that, Nova kissed her husband right on the nose.

"Should I be looking at this?" said Sane with something between a smile and a leer.

Nova playfully threw a roll of gauze at Doctor Sane and said, "C'mon, Derek...let's go. I think we need a place where no one will make _comments_."

"Yeah. Agreed. Doc, if we have that smoker, you can drink as much as you want if you'll be the referee."

"Ha haaa...good! Bye now!" he screamed.

Nova practically pulled her husband off the examining table and ran out, holding hands with him as they merrily ran out.

In the background, an orderly looked on. "Are they nuts?"

"Naaah...just deeply in love," said Sane as he popped the cork on a bottle of his brew. "Bottoms up!"

And, and that, he began to enjoy his favorite beverage.

* * *

IV. YET ANOTHER DAY

The Octopus Star Storm

Space Battleship _Argo_

First Bridge

Thursday February 11, 2202

1422 Hours: Spacetime

* * *

The next day, the _Argo's_ scuttlebutt express had a full load of gossip about the events of the previous day; namely, the results of the shipboard vote, which were heavily in favor of the fights on Saturday night. Mechanical, Living, and Medical Group were thus working together to pull the parts for the fighting ring out of storage in the gym's storeroom and set them up on the starboard side observation deck for the fight. Not having much else to do, Sandor and, ironically, Nova were in charge of this construction project as they supervised their enlisted men in the building. Both officers were even taking turns to turn wrenches and lay down the mat themselves.

"Hey, what's this I heah about Bryan Hartcliffe being grounded for a full week when we get out of the storm?" asked Hardy, who sat with a group on another part of the huge observation deck.

"Wildstar hasn't seen him yet, but he relayed the orders to me before," said Conroy. "He wants that man assigned to the lowest kind of punishment work for a whole week. Also, he told me that once we get back to Earth, he's off this ship and out of the Black Tigers. He's getting the creep transferred to another command."

"Whoa," said Hardy. "That's bad. Of course, considerin' what he did...don't blame the man for having had enough of the guy. You don't know how many times I've wanted to just kick his butt..."

"Hello," said Laurel Hartmann as she came up. "I take it the subject of discussion is Bryan Hartcliffe?"

"Yeah...pull up a chair and talk," said Conroy.

"He and Angie had a big fight last night after he came to," said Laurel as she sat down. "Angie told me about it. Also, you guys see that the grudge board is already up. Homer's name is already on it. When Nova found him in the hydroponic garden yesterday, he kissed her feet and then said he wanted to fight Venture."

"He kissed her feet?" said Hardy.

"_Literally_. And she still had that dress and open sandals on then," said Laurel. "Nova told me it was the goofiest thing she's seen him do yet!"

"How's that grudge board work?" said Conroy.

"Easy," said Hardy. "Anyone who wants to fight someone can put their own name up along with the name of someone they want to fight with."

"Good," said Laurel. "I've discussed it already with my...uh...opponent. I'm going to fight Lubyanska."

"Why?" snapped Conroy.

"It's not really a grudge match, just a friendly boxing workout," said Laurel. "It was Tatiana's idea. Since I'm so damn bored, I agreed."

"Lady boxers," said Hardy with a smile. "Sounds sorta kinky. Ah could just picture mah girlfriend Mio putting on gloves to fight with some people. Hope she's okay."

"Where is Miss Hoshiyama?" asked Laurel.

"Out on a survey ship at the outer rim of the solar system," said Hardy. "She's been working on the archeological survey of the remaining ruins at Brumus. You know...the ancient civilization that was once there."

"What fighting styles are they doing?" asked Conroy.

"Boxing, freestyle martial arts, and wresting," said Hartmann.

"When's Wildstar meeting with Hartcliffe?" asked Conroy.

"Right now," said Nova as she came up behind them.

"Hey, you all right?" asked Conroy.

Nova nodded. "Just got my knee skinned a little yesterday. It'll look perfect again by the time we get to Iscandar so I can wear that dress again. You can barely even see it. I'd show you guys, but it's a little hard to show my knee in my shipsuit," she said, patting her right knee. "Guess what? I've got to start training."

"Training? For what?" asked Hardy.

"A freestyle martial arts bout. Diane Henson just signed me up for three rounds with her on Saturday night."

"_Yoah_ fighting somebody?" asked Hardy.

"Not her," said Laurel. "Nova, she's way bigger and stronger than you. I know you two don't like each other, but she can hurt you very seriously. Back out of it. No disrespect meant, ma'am, but you look like a ballerina...not a fighter."

"I know some tricks she doesn't," said Nova confidently. "I'm a Fourth Level belt in Aikido and Judo. She's only a Fifth. I can hold my own out there, and I've been challenged. My sense of honor won't allow me to back away from an open challenge like that. It's like Rainbow Galaxy when Derek said we'd have to fight Lysis now or later. For me, it's Henson, and it'll be now."

"What does...the Captain think?"

"It doesn't matter, I'm doing it. Besides, Derek's fighting Hartcliffe. Let's see the pot call the kettle black on this one, guys. See ya later."

* * *

Up in his cabin, Captain Wildstar, with his peacoat off in case Bryan Hartcliffe decided to start fighting early, stood confronting the pilot.

"Sir, ya can't throw me off the ship when we get home!" said Hartcliffe. "I'm a great pilot."

"Hartcliffe, don't you _dare_ tell me how to run my command," said Wildstar in a low and dangerous voice. "I told you there'd be consequences the last time you got into trouble. Seems you didn't listen very well, did you? This is your second Captain's Mast in five weeks, Lieutenant! Wake up and smell the coffee! You have to change!"

"But groundin' me for a week...makin' me do punishment..."

"It's a good thing for you I don't have you in the brig for the rest of the mission for sexual harassment and gross insubordination to another officer, Mister. If you don't like the results of this Mast, you can appeal and ask for a Special Court-Martial. I could form a board in a minute, and I have enough witnesses of what you _pulled_ yesterday. Like fifty of them, Hartcliffe. Think of that."

"Sir, please don't throw me out of the Star Force."

"Hartcliffe, we have a tight-knit disciplined outfit here on this ship. You just don't fit in. Sure, we josh with our female officers...we tease them...but we don't go around playing grabby games. And don't think she'll treat you in Sickbay, either. She'll detail her other nurses to do it. You're _persona non grata_ now as far as a certain Lieutenant is concerned. And if you so much as raise a hand towards her again, or any other female on this ship, or anyone else, the bell will toll for you. The bell of a Special Court-Martial. I'm not brigging you now because, unfortunately, after you work like a Private for a week, we need you in that cockpit until we get back. We _are_ short on pilots, you know. But, if you pull one other thing, buddy, than I have no qualms about putting you up on trial. And I'm only giving you this last chance to act like an officer because we need pilots ..we only have thirty-seven Black Tigers now, when we should have forty-eight. The losses have been distributed, but you know we've lost almost a full squadron in a bit over a month. Besides, we're at war. If we had a full complement of pilots, I _would_ be court-martialing you, and I made that clear to that same certain Lieutenant before, so I gave her permission to deal with you in her own fashion. Got it?"

"Yessir! What about my wife? You reassigning her, too?"

"Why? Angie didn't do anything wrong, did she?"

"You mean...sir..._you're splitting us up_?"

"Afraid so. Unless she puts in for a transfer. And after you two had to take your little argument out of your quarters and in the corridor yesterday, Angie told me that she doesn't really care to be on another ship with you. Not for a long while, anyway. She even asked for a change of quarters. She told me she doesn't currently want to room with an officer who puts his hands on other women. I denied the transfer, though. It's up to you to deal with your personal lives and come to some accommodation over this. After all, as long as you're on this ship with your wife, you have to work with her."

Hartcliffe just sighed and looked at the deck. "Sir, had I know this woulda got me into this much hot water..."

"You should have thought of that even before you began to encourage IQ-9."

The door to the cabin opened, and Nova came in, whistling _Besame Mucho_ under her breath. Her sympathetic look for Derek and her glare at Hartcliffe communicated a thousand words without a single word being said as she sat down at her desk space and began to type at a computer keyboard, still whistling softly to herself.

"Come outside, Mister," snapped Captain Wildstar. Mystified, Bryan followed Wildstar.

"Sir?"

Wildstar raised a fist as he spoke. "I'd prefer not to have you in that cabin when she's there. She sometimes kicks off her boots when she types, and knowing you, you'd probably make some lewd comment about her socks or pedicure, you jerk. Now, as for our little meeting on Saturday night..."

"You mean our _mano e mano_? The one I signed up for?" said Hartcliffe with a vicious grin. "Uh...sir," he said, wiping the smile off his face.

"Don't worry about it. In that ring, we won't be Captain and subordinate, Hartcliffe. We'll just be two guys with a grudge and boxing gloves. What's your beef, Mister?"

"Permission to speak freely?"

"Go ahead," said Wildstar.

"You're an idiot, sir. Laying me out like that in front of the whole crew! Anyone ever tell ya you use sucker punches?"

"You're pathetic," hissed Wildstar. "If you had an ounce of common sense, which you evidently didn't because you had just confronted my wife, you should've seen that punch coming. I was ready to go right there, you know."

"Yeah, right," said Hartcliffe as he pushed Wildstar.

Derek shoved him against a bulkhead with a bang. "Looks like you wanna go right now!" he snapped. "Save it for Saturday night, you jerk!" he yelled as he grabbed Hartcliffe by the shirt and then let him go.

"Why are you waitin' so bad?" said Hartcliffe.

"Because I'll have more room in the ring with you," yelled Derek as Nova flung the hatch to their quarters open. "Because I'll want to wipe up that ring with you after three rounds, and with good reason."

"Yeah."

"You touched my wife. That's why. We've discussed enough! Now get your lousy tail out of my sight, and that's an _order!_ And start packing your bags, because when we make Earth, you're out of the Star Force, buddy! And I hope you like to mop."

"Yessir," said Hartcliffe with a sarcastic glare. "I read ya loud and clear." He snapped a salute and then turned on his heel and left while chuckling to himself.

Nova came up and grabbed Derek's arm. "He wanted to go right here and now." Derek said in a disbelieving voice. "I just promised the man with a full court-martial if he acts up again, and he wanted to fight me right here in the foyer. Maybe I should've had you call the Marines."

"No, you did just fine," said Nova. "And you answered my question."

"I can guess. What the hell was going on...right?"

"Not exactly in those words...but...yeah, that's more or less it." Nova tapped her booted foot on the deck and said, "On the lighter side, now that you and I have dealt with the business of Mister Hartcliffe, I have some news for you."

"Which is?"

"Henson challenged me to a fight, martial arts style. I accepted."

"What?" said Derek. "Nova...honey...she'll hurt you! You can't..."

"I can, and I intend to," said Nova with a little smile. She motioned Derek into their quarters and twirled up and did a Judo high-kick into the air. "I'm getting better. And I want to spar with you later on."

"uhh...I don't think much of it..."

"Don't worry, Derek. I'll pull my punches and kicks with you. And you can practice for Hartcliffe at the same time." She threw another kick and put her arms around him. "If you're not court-martialing him because we need pilots, what I do hope you'll do is teach him a lesson on Saturday night. The same lesson I intend to teach Henson."

"Which is?"

"Don't tread on us," said Nova with a smile as she played with Derek's hair. "When do you want to get together to spar?"

"After dinner?"

"Sounds good. I have work to do in Sickbay. See you later."

Nova kissed her husband and cheerfully flounced out of the cabin.

She was depressed last night, thought Derek. _Thank God, she usually never stays that way for very long. Now, as for Hartcliffe and I...might be a good idea to spar. Scuttlebutt says that guy's a dirty fighter. He'd better not pull anything dirty in that ring on Saturday...so help me..._

thought Derek.

* * *

A tense Captain Wildstar later sat down to a game of _Go_ with Venture on the observation deck. They were both being a little careful, because they both remembered how a quarrel over a previous game over two years ago had ended with a very nasty fistfight.

"I don't quite believe this, Derek, You're getting better," said Mark. Not far away, Holly Parsons stood watching the game and smiling at her new boyfriend.

"It's close to three minutes," said Holly while laying a hand lightly on Mark's shoulder. "You'd better move."

"Good," said Venture. He made a move and smiled. "There goes your piece, Derek. Now we're even."

Wildstar smiled and handed the defeated piece to Venture. "Let me see," said Derek as he whistled to himself. He knew Nova wasn't there, but even if she had been, he couldn't receive much help from her; she was a terrible _Go_ player but pretty good at regular chess "What about this piece?"

"_Whoa_," said Venture as Derek made his move. "Holly, I think he's boxing me in. He _has_ improved! But of course, I can respond with this..."

Mark made a move that Derek wasn't expecting. "I have you now," he said in a deep voice.

"Oh, yeah?" said Derek with an evil grin.

IQ-9 ran in a moment later waving his arms in the air. "Captain! Captain Wildstar! Conroy needs backup! Immediately! There's a fight in the lower flight bay!"

"What's the problem?" yelled Derek as he got up.

"Hey! Watch the _board_, skipper!" yelled Venture. He held it down with his hand.

"Bryan Hartcliffe started a fight with Conroy. You'd better hurry up!"

"Ohhhh..." said Wildstar with a disgusted shake of his head.

"Hey, he must like attending court-martials," said Venture.

"Like his _own?_" snapped Derek.

* * *

On the lower flight bay, Conroy just threw a punch that sent Hartcliffe's glasses flying. The British pilot responded with a snarl by throwing himself on top of the Black Tiger Group Leader and knocking him to the ground. As the two men grappled over the sound of a yelling group of Black Tigers and flight maintenance crew, they both connected with a vicious series of punches to each other's faces.

A bruised Conroy pulled Hartcliffe by his shirt and let fly with a punch that would leave his mouth swollen for a few days. Hartcliffe kneed Conroy in the groin and was going for his neck when Wildstar, Hemsford, and Rosstowski ran in, followed by Venture and IQ-9.

"Break it up!" yelled Wildstar. "Both of you! _Break it up_!"

Conroy fell into Wildstar's arms as Wildstar and Venture pulled him back. A snarling Hartcliffe was grabbed by Hemsford and Rosstowski with help from IQ-9.

"What happened?" asked Derek.

While Conroy tried to catch his breath, he said. "Hartcliffe wanted access to his plane; he said there was stuff he had to get out of it. I refused, enforcing the order you gave me earlier about how he wasn't to have anything to do with his work down below here, including getting near his bird. He's been in Hardy's squadron ever since that last reassignment you ordered after he got into trouble the first time a while back. I told him it was a direct order; he couldn't get near his fighter, and he began cursing me out and threw a punch. That's how it started. I'll take any punishment you choose to lay out, sir. I was trying to just defend myself. Sorry I broke regs about fighting down here on the main flight deck."

"You're not responsible," said Wildstar. "He's insubordinate. You all right?"

"I think I'd better see Doctor Sane and Nova. Make sure nothing's broken," said Conroy.

"Venture, get him to Sickbay on the double, so he can see Doctor Sane. Nova's on the first bridge if the Doc needs her." said Wildstar. Derek looked at Hartcliffe, who refused to look at him.

"Hartcliffe, did this happen the way he said it did?"

Bryan nodded.

"Not much I can do then. You remember my discussion with you during your Mast? I'll have a medic look at you later on in the brig. You'll be released on Saturday for our little bout, but then, you'll be held there until after we get out of this storm and I can court-martial you for this. Your games have gone far enough, Bryan Hartcliffe. I'll lead the Tigers myself again in my personal plane to fill _your _slot when we need the whole Group out. I could use some flying time anyway. Guys, get him the hell out of my sight."

Hartcliffe was dragged off. He wouldn't see the rest of the ship again until Saturday night.

"Worse and worse," said Venture.

"Yeah. We'd better get out of this storm soon."

The phone rang a moment later. Hardy got it.

"Wildstah, it's Sandor. He and Nova want to see you on the bridge ASAP."

* * *

"What is it?" asked Wildstar a few minutes later.

"We tracked the storm again and the eye just moved," said Sandor. "It's getting more chaotic."

"It may be a sign that it might break up soon, but I can't tell for sure yet," said Nova.

"It had better not be getting worse. We might never get out of here," huffed Derek.

"Don't say that," said Nova. "Please."

"Dash got on the horn with Rosstowski. He said there was another fight below. Is that true?" said Sandor.

"Yeah. I just broke it up. Hartcliffe again."

"Wastrel," huffed Nova while she went to her post.

"What's that?" asked Homer.

"It's an old term for a social reject," said Nova. "Most of the other terms in my mind for that officer right now are four-letter Anglo-Saxon adjectives. My mom would wash my mouth out with soap if she ever heard me saying them."

"You ever say them?" said Derek.

"No, but my Cousin Allison did when she lived with us. Boy, she has a mouth on her."

"Think you can judge him fairly without reference to yesterday on his shipboard court-martial for his fight after we get out?" asked Derek. "If not, I can put Dash on the board in your place."

"Why's that?"

"Since I can't use Venture because he's the Deputy Captain and XO, and because I can't use Sane because he's wholly Staff rather than Line, I was going to put you on his court-martial board with Sandor and Orion since you're both Line and Staff, Nova. I could use my three senior-most officers on that board. If, that is... none of you mind."

"I'll serve," said Orion.

"Me, too" said Sandor.

Nova sat in thought for a moment. "I'll serve, too. I can put yesterday out of my mind while I'm behind that table. Who's prosecuting?"

"Todd Voorhees. He was a JAG officer once anyway."

"Who'll defend him?" asked Orion.

"He can request any Line officer he wants, or he can lead his own defense," said Wildstar.

"I never thought it'd come to this on this ship," said Orion. "We were always a team. We've never had a full court-martial for anyone before on this command."

"How are you choosing a President for the court-martial board?" asked Sandor.

"That's your business. Meet in private to decide that," said Wildstar. "I can't have anything more to do with Hartcliffe's court-martial from this point forward now that I've chosen a board. Undue command influence."

"I think I've got an idea," mused Orion. "I'll tell you guys later."

"What about Saturday?" said Wildstar.

"You said we start the fights at sixteen hundred," said Sandor.

Derek nodded.

* * *

A little later on that day, Sandor, Orion, Nova and IQ-9 met in private in the small Staff Briefing room a few decks below the first bridge in the _Argo's_ bridge tower. It had once been an observation deck for enemy craft, but upon the ship's latest refit, the former bridge tower aft deck was replaced by more advanced radar and scanning equipment. Hence, Sandor had ordered his staff to refit the unused compartment into a smaller meeting room with a table and screen for the ship's bridge officers when they didn't wish to hold conferences on the bridge.

Nova held an EDF cap in her hand. In the cap were three pieces of paper folded up into little wads with their names on them. They had made up the paper, and Nova had shaken the cap. Now, IQ-9 made the draw. He pulled out a piece of paper and opened it.

"I'm sorry, Nova," said IQ-9. "You didn't make Presiding Judge. Orion is President Judge of this Court-Martial board."

"Good. You're the most senior man anyway," said Sandor.

"I've studied the regs," said Nova as she sat back down at the table behind some loose-leaf notebooks. "EDFR 5123.6, paragraph one stipulates that we can't consider any prior bad acts and especially any actions dismissed by way of a prior court-martial or Mast in our decision in this case, but we can consider prior bad acts after the trial when we meet to pass sentence."  
"Yeah," said Orion. "We'd have to consider his whole record then."

"Therefore, when we pass sentence, I will abstain," said Nova. "I have that option."

"Not bad," said Sandor. "Sounds like he'll get a fair trial."

"What's the precise charge?" said Nova. "I've heard about it, but, since I wasn't there..."

"None of us were," said Orion. "I think that's another reason why Wildstar chose us."

"The charges are gross insubordination and assault and battery upon a senior officer," said IQ-9.

"Not good," said Sandor. "We'll have to see what the witnesses have to say about it."

"Wildstar canna be a witness. He's the Captain," said Orion. "I sat on a court-martial board years ago with Captain Avatar. Begging yer pardon, but I think I'm the only one out of you kids who knows what this is really like."

"I was never on a board before," said Sandor.

"I've never even _seen_ a real full court-martial before," said Nova. "Weird that my first appearance at such an event is as a judge."

"Yeah. A lot o' things on this ship have been weird lately," said Orion.

"You're telling me," said Sandor.

* * *

V. SATURDAY NIGHT'S ALL RIGHT FOR FIGHTING...

The Octopus Star Storm

Space Battleship _Argo_

Saturday, February 13, 2202

1712 Hours: Spacetime

* * *

"All right!" yelled Doctor Sane into his microphone in the middle of the fighting ring as he held up Tatiana Lubyanska's boxing-glove clad hand. The sweaty Black Tiger pilot stood there in a tank top, shorts, and her sneakers. "The winner and champion of Lubyanska vs. Hartmann is Tatiana Lubyanska! Give her a hand!"

The crew cheered and whistled as the tired pilot stepped out of the ring. At the other corner of the ring, Laurel Hartmann sat with a cold rag against her bloody nose. "I think she bwoke it," she said in a very nasal voice. "Hurts! And this was supposed t' be a friendly fight!"

"No such thing once the gloves start flying," said Angie Hartcliffe, who was in a t-shirt, shorts, and bare feet to tend to Hartmann as a corner manager. Nova held the rag to Laurel's nose, dressed in similar attire herself, but with an ankle bracelet above one of her bare ankles.

"I told you this was a stupid idea," said Nova as she helped Hartmann up off the stool.

"And you're fighting two bouts from now?" said Hartmann.

"Had no choice, really. C'mon...let's get her out of here."

A cheer went up as Laurel was helped out of the ring by the two women.

"I gave a good show, didn' I?" said Laurel.

"You did," said Angie. Nova remained quiet.

Doctor Sane went back into the ring a moment later. "And now, for our next bout, we have a round of wrestling. Let me introduce our combatants. In the gold trunks, at two hundred and sixty pounds, we have Ensign Paul Hemsford of the Marine Group!"

The crowd yelled as Hemsford was helped into the ring by Rosstowski and Dash, who were in t-shirts and shorts. The huge Marine was bare-chested, in shorts and socks. Sweat gleamed off his glowering dark-skinned skull as the huge African-American stood awaiting his opponent with a look like "Kick _my_ ass? Yeah, right?" written on his face.

"And we have his opponent, from Navigation Group. He says he can beat any man on the ship! Weighing in at an awesome three hundred pounds, Ensign Goro Raiden!"

Some of the crew cheered while others sat in silence as a huge Japanese officer from the second bridge who looked like a walking mountain stepped over the ropes. He wore green trunks and went barefoot like a Sumo wrestler. Raiden was helped into the ring by Venture, who already wore green and white boxing shorts for his fight, and by Parsons, who wore a t-shirt and shorts.

"Ready to rassle?" said Hemsford.

"Drop dead, idiot," said Raiden in his growling, deep voice.

The two men went into the center ring and glowered at each other. "Now, I want a good, clean fight!" yelled Sane, who had on his medical whites with a _hachimachi_ headband knotted around his head. "No dirty moves, no throwing each other out of the ring, and no hits below the belt! Three rounds! First man immobilized loses! Go!"

Sane jumped back while IQ-9 rang a bell. The room erupted with yells of "Get him!" "I bet on Hemsford!" "Hell, no, Raiden!" and "Kick his butt!" as the two enemies circled each other with their hands out.

Hemsford made the first move; a leap for Raiden's legs that the bigger man dodged with a surprising nimbleness. Raiden snarled at Hemsford, who danced around him and grabbed him from behind by the neck.

The crowd went wild as Raiden threw the Marine over his head to the mat like a sack of rice. Before the cheers subsided, Hemsford grabbed Raiden by the ankles and knocked him down. Then, the two titans grappled snarling on the mat, neither of them gaining a clear advantage.

Raiden tried to slam Hemsford's head into the mat, but Hemsford responded by grabbing Raiden's wiry black hair and pulling hard. Raiden then kicked Hemsford off of him, but Hemsford leaped up, recovered, and grabbed Raiden in a tight neckhold. Raiden was trying to snap the hold when the bell rang, ending round one.

The two men broke their grip and trotted back to their corners. In his corner, Hemsford had his face swabbed with a wet sponge while Rosstowski said, "Don't let him trap ya like that again, buddy."

"I won't. I'll get him first. Mother of a dirty fighter," spat Hemsford.

"Remember, he was the wrestling champ two years running at the Academy," said Dash. "He was a tough dude even as a plebe."

In his corner, Venture wiped Raiden's brow and said, "Use the Kowalski hold. He won't expect that."

"Are you kiddin?" growled Raiden. "I'm usin' the Morimoto hold. He's never seen that one before. He won't know how to break it."

"Don't hurt the guy, now," said Parsons as sweat dripped onto one of her sneakers.

"Naaah. Even though I called him a mother, we'll be sharin' sake in two hours, I betcha. Him and me got to be buddies when we met on this ship."

"Yeah. I can see why," said Holly. "You two are the biggest guys on this ship."

"And the strongest. This'll be an epic battle for my clan," said Raiden. The bell rang, and then the two men collided again. More cheers came as Raiden threw Hemsford, and Hemsford kicked right back. They grappled and then punched like madmen. It looked like they were trying so hard to kill each other than no one would know the two strong men were friends as well as very intelligent men.

Finally, Hemsford was caught in the Morimoto hold, a particularly strong headlock. To the crowd's surprise, right as he was being forced to the ground, the Marine broke the hold, caught Raiden in a Morimoto hold of his own, and shoved the huge man down like a bundle of rags, with every muscle in the marine's body straining as he did so. Hemsford had lost his socks in this round, and the near-naked man looked like an art-deco nightmare as he forced the much bigger man to the ground and held him for then ten-count.

"The winner...Paul Hemsford!" yelled Doctor Sane.

"I don't believe this," said Captain Wildstar as he stood in boxing shorts and bare feet next to Nova. "Nova, I thought Raiden had this one in the bag!"

"Sometimes underdogs can win," said Nova. "That's nice to remember, now, isn't it?"

"We'd better get ready to help Venture. He's up next."

In the ring, over the cheers, Hemsford helped up Raiden and the two sweaty men shared a big hug. Then they ran off for the showers. Luckily, the gym wasn't too far away, which meant that there were both showers and a locker room nearby.

* * *

In the locker room, Derek helped Mark tie on one boxing glove while Nova helped tape his other hand.

"You look scared," said Derek.

"Man, I haven't been in a boxing ring ever since the Academy," said Venture. "People weren't watching our fights, Derek."

"I was," said Nova. "You guys are silly."

"This isn't silly...it's serious," said Venture. "I'll finally have a chance to take Homer with the whole crew watching. What does he know anyway? Stupid mental case."

"A few tricks," said Derek. "Nova and I watched him on the bag yesterday while we were practicing. He has a nasty left hook, Mark."

"It's almost time," said Venture. "Hey, Wildstar," said Mark with a friendly grin before he put in his mouth guard.

"Yeah."

"Should've been you and me tonight, buddy. It would've been a great fight."

"Some other time," said Derek with an evil smile. "I can take you anytime, Venture."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," smiled Derek.

"Guys, not now," said Nova. "We have to be out there in a minute."

"Kill Homer for us," said Derek.

"Please don't, Mark," rejoined Nova.

"I got him in the bag," smiled Mark as he finished tying his sneaker. "Let's go, guys."

* * *

Homer stood in his corner accompanied by Hardy and Royster. Hardy was helping because he thought this was kind of funny, while Royster was helping because he was trying to get Homer to like him. He had just checked on Laurel, who needed surgery to fix her nose. Nova and Sane would be busy in the next few days; Laurel was to be operated on after her swelling went down.

Venture and Homer slapped gloves angrily and then waited for Sane's signal without exchanging a single word.

The bell rang, and Venture waded right in. Homer danced around him, feinted, and, to everyone's surprise, connected with the first blow. Mark took the hit, and got Homer right in the midsection with a hard, mean left. Homer coughed, and then got Venture in the head with a hard bash of his own. Mark spat out his bloody mouth protector and smashed Homer in the right temple with a hard, mean hit that left him reeling. As Homer was about to fall, he regained his footing, snarled, and caught Venture in a grapple while he punched at his ribs.

"Foul! FOUL!" yelled Sane as he waded in. "Homer, let him go!"

Over boos, Homer released Venture, who responded (while breathing hard) with a feint to the head and then a blow to the midsection. Homer stood almost doubled-over before Venture connected with a hard punch to the cheek.

Homer went down like a tree. Sane counted the dazed man out and then held up Venture's arm with a loud bray of cheers from the crowd. Derek and Nova ran up to the winner, but he shoved them away with a smile. "I'm fine!"

"But your mouth is bleeding, Mark!" said Nova.

"Oh, I'm okay," said Venture through gasps of breath. "Never felt better in my life! I finally kicked his butt! Ha! HA!"

"Good job," said Derek with a smile.

"Hardy, is Homer all right?" asked Nova.

"I think he is."

"Good," said Nova. She was relieved when Royster and Hardy helped Glitchman up to his feet.

"He's not bad," muttered Homer.

"Gonna shake hands with him?" said Hardy.

"Heck no!" said Homer. "Venture, this doesn't settle anything!"

"Aaaa..._grow up_!" snapped Venture. He left with Derek and Nova.

* * *

In the locker room, Diane Henson stood behind a locker door tying her white and orange martial-arts _gi_. "Like the _gi_?" she said with a smile as Randy Parmon and Tatiana Lubyanska stood watching; they would be her corner managers.

"I like you better," leered Parmon. "I got a look. You still look good."

"You were supposed to have your back turned!" snapped Diane. Then, not able to resist a dig, she yelled across the locker room to her opponent. "Hey, Nova! Are they looking at _you_?"

"I'm not," said Venture as he stood with his back turned to the locker door behind which Nova was dressing with Derek's help.

"Ha! Nothing to see!"

"Not my opinion," shot back Derek while he helped his wife into the upper half of her gold and black _gi_. She wore a sports bra beneath it, but looked good.

"Why aren't you talking, Nova?" yelled back Diane. "Mimi got your tongue?"

"She's focusing her _ki_," said Venture. "Right now, she's meditating."

"The weird tricks you learned from Derek won't help you out there, honey!" yelled Diane.

Nova stepped out, barefoot but otherwise fully dressed in her martial-arts clothing. She regarded Diane with a guarded look and let Derek and Mark help her out to the ring.

"I can't believe it," said Henson. "She's in another world."

"More like some other galaxy...damn airheaded snob," said Parmon.

"I think there's more about this than meets the eye," said Lubyanska. "I've seen her throw a few punches. She's a much more dangerous opponent than she appears to be."

"So what! I have the body to kick her butt."

"But a lower belt. And she has something I'm not sure you have."

"Which is?"

"A subtle, devious mind," said Tatiana.

* * *

Henson came out first. A few people cheered her, but the room stayed quiet until Nova showed up. The room went wild, and there were a lot of good-natured cat calls "You look better in a robe than she does!" "Hey, Nova, kick her butt!" "Is your insurance paid up, Henson?" "A veteran can take a new crew member any day!"

For the first time, as she wriggled her toes against the mat, Henson was a bit nervous. The utter silence and serenity of her opponent was perhaps the most disturbing part of the whole fight. Diane had fought both women and men before, but she had never faced an opponent who wasn't talking trash.

Nova quietly took Derek's hand as the two of them bowed their heads. Only Mark knew that they were in silent prayer. Finally, they stopped.

"Nova, it's your show now. You know what I taught you. Go get her, love," whispered Derek.

Nova didn't speak. She only kissed Derek's hands with a ghost of a smile about her face before she stepped into the ring with glistening eyes.

Henson strutted in, jumping around on the balls of her feet. Nova came up in silence and stiffly bowed from the waist.

Henson damn near busted a gut laughing. "Look at this!" she sneered. "All style! No substance! Think you're gonna kill me by looking like a Shaolin temple movie, Nova?"

"Henson, bow back to your opponent," said Sane. "You know the etiquette! She's showing you _respect_!"

"Yeah, she'd better!" snapped Henson. She bowed back contemptuously and said, "You want your face diced or pureed, Wildstar? I'll knock you out in the first minute!"

Nova gazed at a point near the mat. She didn't even look up at Henson. She totally refused to let her eyes meet those of her opponent. _I refuse to give you the satisfaction of a response to your taunts until we start this_, Nova thought. _You are an utter boor. You have no sense of elegance or intelligence or spirit about you whatsoever. You would be the perfect mate for Bryan Hartcliffe. You started this tonight. Now, I shall finish it. I am patient. Calm. Forgiving. But, when you crossed me, you crossed the wrong woman. I will make sure of that._

Nova shut her eyes and stood in silence as Sane introduced them and gave their weights. Henson outweighed her by eighteen pounds. Nova knew that already. She didn't care.

She had nothing on her mind except winning this fight and getting out of this ring. Finally, Sane stepped back. With a loud round of yells that Henson acknowledged by blowing the crowd a showy kiss, and which Nova refused to acknowledge at all, the fight started.

Henson dug her toes into the mat and punched out with a hard right. As quick as lightning, Nova caught her opponent's fist with her upraised right hand and threw the blow back. The crowd went silent as Henson staggered.

Nova quickly threw a foot between her opponent's ankles and kicked. Henson hit the mat. Sane began the count, but Diane bounced up at the number six and went for Nova with murder in her eyes. She feinted with a left, and threw a right in at Nova's stomach. Nova partly deflected the blow, but she took the blow with a gasp and slightly widened eyes.

Henson had her wrist grabbed a moment later as Nova hissed and shot her fist into Henson's stomach. The stunned woman tried to grab Nova's wrists to throw her, but the smaller woman danced back on the balls of her feet like a cat on a hot stove. Then, with a shockingly loud focused cry of "_kiai!"_ Nova twirled around and met the side of Henson's head with a hard kick.

Diane staggered, but she somehow recovered and threw a kick into Nova's cheek. Nova staggered herself, but then she refocused herself by deflecting a kick from Diane. She simply caught her foot with her hands and threw back.

Henson ended up on her butt, but she sprang back up as the room spun around. As the bell rang, Nova wiped away a little blood from her mouth, spat out her tooth protector, and said "Diane..._what_ was that you were saying? First minute?" Then, she just shook her head and walked back to her corner with a very straight back, ignoring the buzzing in her ears.

"Are you all right?" asked Derek in the ring as he dabbed at her mouth. The sight of his wife's blood was making him as mad as a bull.

"Just a nick inside my mouth. I'll live," said Nova before drinking a lot of water from her bottle.

"How's your stomach?" asked Venture.

"Bruised, I bet. I think I made my point. I'll finish this in two minutes."

"Nova, what do you mean?"

"What you taught me, Derek. Focus. Calm. I showed her. She didn't think I was going to make it this far. Wrong."

Nova stood up, patted Derek's hand and said, "Get your mind ready, Derek. You're up next."

"But you're..."

"Slightly hurt. I'll make it." She winked at Derek and walked back out into the ring.

The bell rang. This time, there were no bows, and this time, Henson was getting a bit more wary of the calm tigress that she knew she was stuck in this ring with. Henson lashed out first, but Nova just skipped back. Henson kicked again, but Nova simply caught the kick and threw her opponent back. She then got up, howled, and threw a punch into Nova's gut. It never connected. Nova just threw it back in silence, feinted, caught two more hits with her hands in rapid succession, and then, she grabbed Henson's wrists and executed a throw that Diane hadn't expected at all. As Diane hit the mat, she bounced up, but Nova lashed out with a kick to the neck that dropped Henson on her back like a tree. Tears of humiliation and sudden anger ran down Henson's face as Sane counted her out and threw up Nova's hand as the victor while the crew yelled and wolf-whistled.

Nova bowed with Sane to the spectators with a smile, and then ran in to assist Henson. "I didn't do that _too_ hard, did I? I'm sorry." she said quietly.

"You creep," coughed Henson. "Don't condescend to me!"

"I told you earlier today. You started this. I came in here intending to finish it. Now, let's shake hands and put this behind us, Diane. You were good, too."

"I'd sooner shake hands with Satan," muttered Henson.

"Your call," said Nova. "But I have no grudge against you. Just want to let you know that. Please act like a mature woman?"

"Yeah, right," said Henson.

Nova walked to Derek and Mark and received a kiss from Derek and a hug from Mark. "Thanks for the support," she said. "Now can you give us some time alone in the showers? I have to get cleaned up and back in my shorts. We'll be out in a minute so you can get ready, Derek."

"Okay. Love ya."

* * *

Later on, a bitter Bryan Hartcliffe clapped gloves with Derek Wildstar in the middle of the ring. Nova watched her husband in the center of the ring. He stood bare-chested, long haired, gleaming with a sheen of sweat under the lights, clad in only his boxer shorts and gloves.

Nova thought her husband looked incredibly attractive and sexy like that...barely clad...ready for battle. She wanted to hold him and kiss him again and again before he fought. But, right now, she knew she couldn't.

Bryan Hartcliffe stood there in sneakers and shorts. Venture noticed what Nova already knew from being a nurse...Hartcliffe was thinner than Wildstar and his chest was nowhere near as broad and muscled. Mark guessed that this was a man who did the bare minimum of PT the EDF required...and no more.

All talk and no action, thought Venture with disgust. _Well, the talk stops here, Hartcliffe_.

thought Venture with disgust. . 

Hartcliffe was being ministered to by only one man...Shigeru Sakamoto. The two most hated pilots on the ship, it seemed, had formed some sort of friendship. Angie was nowhere to be seen. She wasn't even watching the fights. She had taken the option of remaining in her cabin with a good book. Alone.

The bell rang, and the fighters advanced upon each other.

The first thing that happened was that Wildstar was hit below the belt.

"Ohh...CRUD!" he barked.

Hartcliffe wanted to capitalize upon the gain, but Sane stepped in and forced him back. "Flagrant foul! You do that again, Hartcliffe, and you'll forfeit this fight! You all right, Derek?"

"Fine," grunted Wildstar. _Thank God for jockstrap cups_, he thought. _And thank God that Nova knows how to get it on me just right._

Wildstar fought back, throwing a pair of quick punches into Hartcliffe's midsection. The British pilot gritted his teeth, but he took the hits in silence.

Wildstar then blocked two punches, and then took a punch to his mouth that sent him reeling and sent his mouthguard flying with a gout of blood. In their corner, Venture went white and Nova screamed. She tensed and jumped to her feet.

"No," said Venture as he grabbed her wrist. "You can't!"

"But he might be..."

"We'll help at the end of the round...or when the fight ends. We can't help him now!"

"Yeah...right," said Nova as she sat on the little stool biting her nails.

In the ring, Derek got to his feet, and, breathing hard, he threw another punch at Hartcliffe. Bryan dodged, and then, smiling wickedly, he got Wildstar in the throat. Derek staggered back, almost fell, but then he got back to his feet just as the bell rang.

Sane ran up to Wildstar. "Captain, I'm stopping this fight. We need you healthy!"

"Hell no," said Derek. "That man is scum. I'm going to beat him."

"Well, get back to your corner. Let Nova and Mark take care of you!"

Derek staggered back to his corner and lay there panting on the stool as Nova dabbed at the inside of his mouth with a swab. "This'll sting, but it'll stop the bleeding. And you need a new mouthguard."

"What's with that guy?" huffed Derek.

"He's a street fighter," said Mark. "I've met guys like him in Brooklyn when I visited there before the bombings. He thinks he's some kind of gang member or something, I'll bet. You deal with dirt like him just one way, Derek. Give him what he gives you."

"But I don't fight that way."

"Derek, cut the _bushido_ honor crap!" snapped Mark. "He's an enemy. Treat him like an enemy."

"He's our enemy, Derek," said Nova as she tenderly washed him with a wet sponge. The needed washing, and the heat of the ring and lights, meant that she was minimally dressed for a good reason. "Take me off his court-martial board later on. I can't fairly judge a man who hits you like that...or who humiliated me in front of the crew."

"Thanks for being honest."

"Good, Derek. Now, go out there and beat him. For us!"

Derek accepted Nova's kiss even though his mouth hurt. "Yeah. For us."

She let go of her husband with great reluctance as he jumped in again.

* * *

The second round went on. Both Hartcliffe and Wildstar were sweaty and wilting. Both men were bruised, battered, and had swollen spots on their faces. Both of them had succeeded in hurting each other.

Both of them were swaying on their feet as Derek dug his toes into the mat, hauled back, and feinted with a left. The right came thundering into Bryan Hartcliffe's gut a moment later. With the wind knocked out of him, it was now an easy matter for a gasping Wildstar to punch him in the mouth and knock him onto his back, again.

Then, Sane ran over and counted the struggling, dazed Bryan Hartcliffe out. Then, to wild cheers, he held up Captain Wildstar's fist.

"THE WINNER!" he cried. "Our Captain!"

The crew cheered, and three of the Tigers, namely, Hardy, Conroy and Lubyanska, ran into the ring and hugged Derek and clapped his back.

Wildstar staggered, and fell onto the mat. Nova was there to catch him. "Derek," she said in a half-sob. "You beat him! Oh, I'm so happy!"

"yeah...thanks," he said in an exhausted, punch drunk voice.

Venture looked at Nova, and Nova looked back at him and nodded.

"Wildstar, I'm taking command for the rest of the night," said Venture. "We're still not going anywhere, so it doesn't matter."

"Yeah...okay...but the party..."

"No party for you!" snapped Nova. "Clear the way, Doctor Sane. "I'm getting my man right into bed!"

Sane yelled "OKAY! Get out of the way! Clear the way for the Captain!" Nova helped her battered champion walk out of the ring and then she walked with him, half carrying the tired, shaking man back to his cabin.

They needed the privacy.

* * *

VI. ENCOUNTERS

The Octopus Star Storm

Space Battleship _Argo_

Tuesday, February 16, 2202

1820 Hours: Spacetime

* * *

A few days passed.

Dash volunteered to take Nova's place on Hartcliffe's special court-martial board.

Derek and Nova recovered after caring for each other.

Bryan remained in the brig, languishing as he realized how he had just wrecked his own life in the past week.

The storm continued, although Sandor noticed it didn't seem to be quite as bad.

* * *

"Well," said Sandor on the first bridge as he watched Holly Parsons working the main radar. "Send those scans through again."

"Roger," she said.

"What is it?" said Derek from his post. He was drinking tea and had his peacoat and ascot on again.

"The storm," said Sandor. "The solar wind velocity has just dropped again. It's weaker. The gravitational pull has also dropped by point seventy two in the past hour."

"What does that mean?"

"Derek, get the ship ready to move. Sometime tomorrow...it should break up."

"Mind if I wait so we can tell if it's the real thing?"

"It's your call, Wildstar."

Derek looked out at the angry orange tendrils of wind. "When those are gone, we'll take down those canopies, and then we'll get ready to get out of here. Of course, I'll have to check that channel...to make sure we can still get out."

"Good idea."

* * *

About five hours had passed in Sickbay. It had been a long and delicate operation, but Doctor Sane, Doctor Bradford, Nova, and IQ-9 were finally done with the plastic surgery that had reconstructed Laurel Hartmann's nose.

"Look at her," said Bradford, who stood there in a Medical section minidress, clogs, and other operating-room gear. She was pulling off her bloody gloves with Nova's help. "Looks good now, but why'd she have to go and mess up her nose like that, Sakezo?"

"It's that fight they had," said Sane. "Actually, it wasn't half-bad," he said while yawning and wriggling his toes in his wooden _geta_ sandals. He sat right down on the deck and got his handy bottle of "spring water", which was had something with more kick mixed in with it tonight. "It allowed the crew a chance to let out their aggressions and settle some scores before we get out of this storm. Right, Nova?"

Nova sighed and rolled up her eyes. "Doctor Sane, I still think that fight night was sort of stupid. Why should people hurt each other for no good reason?" she said, grunting a little as she spoke, balanced on one foot. She was in the middle of pulling a cloth shoe cover off her white sandals, which she was wearing instead of her standard boots tonight due to the length of the operation.

"Doctor Sane," said IQ-9. "I'll get her out of here," he said as he put his hands on the gurney that he had just lifted the sleeping Hartmann onto.

"Good," said Sane. "IQ, take her out."

"Yes, Doctor," said the robot. He left with the sleeping form while Nova began to clean up the operating field. She picked up the used linen and then put the surgical instruments in the sterilizer for cleaning and reuse.

"Nova, you did call Fisher, didn't you?"

"Yes, Doctor," said Nova. "She's got a bed ready for her outside. I'll get her chart out there when we're done cleaning up," she said as she tapped the pedal of a waste can; the sole of her shoe made a sharp slap as it hit the pedal. Nova then threw her used latex gloves into the can along with the paper mask that dangled around her neck. She took off her cap, flipped her head around to straighten out her hair a little, and threw the reusable operating-room cap onto a counter beside her shoe covers. "As you were saying, Doctor Bradford? I'm sorry, but I lost the thread of our conversation, ma'am." Nova said this while getting two plastic cups out of a cabinet.

"I said, you should talk, Nurse Wildstar" grunted Bradford. "No offense, Lieutenant, but you've always had your head up there in the clouds in ladeda land. I don't know. Maybe when you get that MD, med school will knock some of that idealism out of your little blond head. And didn't I see _you_ fighting that night, too?"

"That's because I was _challenged_, Doctor Bradford," said Nova. "Henson challenged my honor, and I had to defend it."

"Funny," said Bradford. "You were born in Boulder, Colorado, and sometimes you talk like you grew up around the base of Fujiyama or something when you get these weird brain-pan sparks."

Nova stood there with her mouth open for a moment, but Sane retorted with, "Bradford, she spent a year of her childhood in the Japanese Archipelago on Kyushu right near Sasebo, and her father's part-Japanese."

"I never knew that," said Bradford as Nova sat down cross-legged on the deck near a counter beside Sane. In her stance and dress, she looked a little like a younger version of Sane to Bradford for an instant, although her legs and build were, of course, far shapelier than his, and Sane certainly didn't have an ankle charm bracelet on over _his_ sandals. "Nova, tell me a bit about Kyushu before the bombings."

"My father had to work there before he opened his own law office," said Nova after she poured Sane some sake. "The firm he worked for then sent him all over the world, and he was also a reserve United Nations Space Defense Force JAG officer. We rented a house there, and I had fun. It was warm most of the year, I went to a Japanese school in a little sailor dress, learned a bit of the language, and went to the beach a lot. I also used to like to go with my dad to watch the ships come in at the docks at Sasebo. My mom never understood why I've always liked the sea. When I was little, I wanted to sail off to some romantic, exotic place and write poetry about it. Now, here we are, in space...more material for me to write poetry about in my journal in an odd moment...or material for songwriting...just me and my guitar. When we're underway, I see a lot of exotic places..."

"And we get shot at," snorted Bradford. She adjusted her glasses and said, "Nova, when you're fifteen years older, wearing glasses like me, and you begin losing your curvy figure, you might see what I'm getting at. You once said I was cynical."

"You are, ma'am," said Nova calmly as Sane gave her some something to drink. "How'd you ever get to be such a hard-nosed person?"

"Defenses," said Bradford. "One body's the same as another. One complaint's the same as the other. They're all cases, with prescribed treatments..."

"They're people," said Sane. "People without an ounce of common sense at times...but people. You have to keep that in mind, Bradford? Want to sit down and join us in a cup?"

"No, I don't want any," said Bradford. "I'm gonna turn in soon and give the duty to Doctor Ryrie, if you don't mind, sir."

"Of course I don't mind," said Sane. "You go right ahead, huh?"

"Good. Good night. Doctor. Good night Nurse. Don't drink yourselves into oblivion now!"

"I won't," said Nova with a smile. "G'night, Doctor."

Bradford left. Nova took a sip of the "spring water" and said, "_Yuk!_ This brand's sharper than your usual kind."

"I had to dig a little into my reserves, Nova. I do apologize."

"Thanks. This mission...we've all been so busy, we've barely had a chance to talk. Do you think we're going to make it through all right?"

"It's hard to tell," said Sane. "When we went to Telezart, and were fighting the White Comet, that was its own challenge. Now, we have a different challenge. We have a very unpredictable enemy this time. An enemy with very strange powers. An enemy we're going to have a hard time defeating. Aliscea tells me she thinks there's going to be some sort of confrontation around Iscandar."

"I know. She tells me the same thing, Doctor."

"I had a funny dream last night, Nova. Some of my dreams are occasionally caused by my...uhhmm...choice of refreshment," he said with a blush. As he spoke, Mimi the Cat came in, making her presence known by mewing and rubbing her head against Nova's toes and ankle.

Nova put up a finger for a moment and pulled Mimi onto her lap. "Are you hungry, girl?" she asked. Mimi made a content purr-meow and began to knead her front paws against Nova's bare leg. "Okay...you're not," said Nova. "Keep those claws in," she said as Sane looked at his cat with amusement. "You were saying, Doctor?" asked Nova.

"I said...had this funny dream. Trelaina of Telezart was in it."

"Trelaina?" said Nova with a start that disturbed Mimi. "What did she say?"

"She said...she was watching over us from...wherever she is. She said that it was hard to tell, but we might see her again before all this is over."

"We can't see her again...she's dead," said Nova. "Or...is she, really? We thought she was dead before, you know. I sure did."

"She did say she can't be with us...and she said she wanted to send her love to Mark...and to Holly. She told me to tell them...to enjoy the time they'll have together. I asked her how long they'd have together...and she said...it was hard to tell...the future...was hard to see or guess...even for her. She said we had to live on...to be the embodiment of good."

Nova started again at that tidbit. She had never told Doctor Sane what Trelaina's precise words had been when she had brought Mark back to them.

"Nova, what's wrong?" said Sane. "You look like you've just seen a ghost!"

"No...but maybe you've heard from one, Doctor? What Trelaina said in your dream...did you ever hear any of us telling you what we heard from Trelaina that last time? I mean...the _exact _words?"

"You and Wildstar told me the generalities...but you never gave me the exact words before."

"_Earth can be the embodiment of good_," quoted Nova. "_But it must live on to fulfill its destiny_. That was virtually the last thing Trelaina said to Derek and I...before she went to destroy Zordar. I'm sorry I never told you before, Doctor. There was so much going on in November and December that we never got to sit down and talk about it. So...she talked about the same thing in your dream...in language you had never heard before."

"That's right."

"And...I'm sorry...but you're sure Derek never told you the exact words, either? You know dreams are the dumping-ground of the subconscious."

"No. He never did. I asked Mark to tell me if he heard anything from her...and while he said something...he never said what the precise words were, either, except for a few phrases. You remember he was very confused then, and you also remember that he said he wasn't sure if he really experienced what he had experienced. He never said anything about 'the embodiment of good' or any of that. What do you think, Nova?"

"I think I've got to go tell Derek about your dream," she said. "Let me know if you have any more weird dreams, okay?"

"Sure. I usually dream about girls I knew in the past and about being a barber and about Mimi," said Sane. "I don't dream about mysterious women with strange powers...usually..."

"What about that weird one you said you once had when you said you saw me walking around in Queen Starsha's gown, Doctor?" asked Nova.

"Well, that's an exception," said Sane. "But we all know you don't have any strange powers of any kind."

"Yeah," said Nova. "The last time I tried to resurrect flowers in the ship's garden with my mind, it didn't work," she said with a chuckle. "I had to use a chemical fertilizer in the hydroponic suspension base like the mundane little old Earthling I am."

"Hey, that's my girl," said Sane with a big smile as he gave Nova an affectionate pat on the shoulder. "You know, you make a much better drinking buddy than Bradford?"

"Thanks," said Nova as Mimi ran off her lap. "I think Mimi's telling me that I'm wearing out my welcome," she said as she got up and stretched.

"Where are you going?"

"Aft observation deck. Derek wanted me to meet him there at oh-one hundred. I can't stand up my own husband now, can I?"

"Nope. Tell him I said hi. And you tell him I think you look adorable tonight. You should try _geta_, though. They're even more comfortable than those things!"

Nova blushed. "Thanks. But when I wore _geta_ as a little girl in Kyushu, they kept on falling off when I rode my bike. I could never get them on the pedals just right. I wore plain sandals or flip-flops most of the time there."

"You'd better take Wildstar to the exact spot you were at in Kyushu some time!" yelled Sane. "He'd love to see you in a kimono at _obon_ festival!"

"I need to get a new one," said Nova. "See ya later."

She left. Sane had another drink and said, "Best nurse I've got. And she's a nice kid, too. Want some, Mimi?"

Mimi lapped some sake up after Sane poured a little in the palm of his hand.

* * *

More time passed. After lunch, Nova and Derek came up to the First Bridge together holding hands. They had enjoyed a good night last night, and a pleasant morning. During their bridge watch, they had looked at the latest scans with hope, but had left at eleven hundred, thinking it was too good to be true. Still, having a strange feeling about this, Derek had left his peacoat and ascot in their cabin when they had popped in there for just a moment before arriving on the bridge.

The young lovers held hands as they walked together onto the First Bridge. They stopped in the middle of the doorway, not believing the sight.

A beaming Venture, Sandor, and Parsons greeted them.

"Guess what, Derek...Nova," Mark said. "As I think you can see, the storm has stopped. We can move again!"

"Derek!" said Nova with excitement. "We can continue the mission at last!"

"After we see if that channel's clear," said Captain Wildstar. "Parsons, did you scan it?"

"About halfway," said Parsons. "The radar doesn't go in all the way, of course..."

"Well, it looks like I'll have to check it out."

Nova nudged her husband in the ribs.

"Okay," he said with a smile. "Nova, are you ready for a little flight in my Super Starfighter with me?"

She gave her husband a thumbs-up.

"Sound the alert, Venture," said Derek. "I think we're gonna be on our way back to Iscandar today. We're gonna have to do a lot of warps to catch up."

"Roger," said Mark with a smile. A moment later, the alert klaxons went of.

After a long sleep, now, on February 17, 2202, the _Argo_ was finally shaking herself awake.

They were on their way out.

* * *

**_THERE ARE NOW 99 DAYS TO THE ARRIVAL OF EKOGARU IN EARTH'S SOLAR SYSTEM_**

* * *


	4. Chapter 4

* * *

**ALTERNATE TALES OF THE STAR FORCE**

STAR BLAZERS---RETURN TO THE GREAT MAGELLENIC CLOUD

Being the seventh part of THE RIKASHA INCIDENT--- BY: Frederick P. Kopetz

* * *

ACT FOUR--FREEDOM'S PRICE

Star Blazers and Space Battleship Yamato is (c) 2002 by Voyager Entertainment and Leiji Matsumoto.

Some themes and characters from some of Leiji Matsumoto's other works appear herein, as well. The manga in question was (c) 1998 by Leiji Matsumoto and VIZ Media. No infringement is intended; the references in question are intended as a tribute to Matsumoto-_sensei's_ great inspiration and wonderfully varied universe.

* * *

I. PROBING THE ETERNAL NIGHT

The Octopus Star Group

Space Battleship _Argo_

Upper Port Side Fighter Bay

Wednesday February 17, 2202

1538 Hours Spacetime

* * *

A week ago, Captain Derek Wildstar reflected as he climbed into his Super Starfighter again_, we were wondering if we'd ever get out from that storm_. _Now our twenty-six day wait in that thing is over at last. If that probe is clear, we can get out._

Captain Derek Wildstar reflected as he climbed into his Super Starfighter again. 

"So what are we waiting for?" he said out loud to Nova, who had just climbed into the aft seat in the fighter.

"For me to get my helmet on?" she quipped in a semi-sardonic voice with a determined don't-mess-with-_me_ look in her eyes. "You're not getting me out of here, of course. You need an RSO and I'm it."

"Who said I was getting you out? I _asked_ you to come with me, silly."

"Oh, right. That's good," said Nova with an embarrased laugh. "Sorry. I'm just as tense about this as you are...and now and then, I still remember when you and Doctor Sane would tell me, _'Nova you can't do this. Nova, you can't do that. Blah Blah Blah blah blah!_'"

"We were trying to protect you..."

"And keep me from doing everything I have to do? I'm glad you're realizing that we're a team, Derek. I'm glad you realized that the day I proposed to you. You know, I'm anxious to get the _Argo_ out of here, too. I can't help feeling that someone will find us if we stick around here too long, so let's get this show on the road, hon. Oh...here's your helmet," she said, tossing it to him.

Derek nodded. He put his helmet on and said, "Did you talk to Aliscea today?" he asked as they strapped their harnesses. He switched on the fighter's engine, and it came up with an ear-splitting whine that was muffled in the cockpit. He signaled with his hand to a flight maintenance crewperson below, and she unplugged the auxiliary power unit umbilicals from the underbelly of the fighter plane.

"I did. She said that we need to be on our guard. It seemed like she was preoccupied with something, Derek. Like she was trying to find something..."

"That doesn't sound."

"No, it doesn't," said Nova in a very serious voice. "Radar up. Scanners up. Targeting computer switch on."

"Flaps and rudder up, both atmospheric surfaces and thrusters" said Derek as he moved his stick and pushed on the rudder pedals. "Engine coming up to normal thrust." They waited as the moving elevator lowered the plane to the flight deck. Then, Derek began to taxi out as radio traffic came up over their headsets in their helmets. "Homer, we're heading for the catapult now."

"Roger that. Venture and Sandor are telling you guys not to be heroes."

"Tell him we thank them we for their concern. We know what we're doing," said Nova.

"Yes, you two are risking both of your stupid necks!" screeched Doctor Sane unexpectedly.

"Doc, what are you doing out of Sickbay?" said Wildstar irritably.

"I came up here to have a drink. And to watch you two better!" Sane clunked over to the empty Analysis seat between Rosstowski and Rosstowski in his _geta_ and sat down, upending his usual bottle of sake.

"Well, after we launch, you get back down there with your patients. And that's an order!" said Wildstar as the plane mated with the catapult lift. Derek and Nova began their passage upwards and outwards into space...or, rather, what they could see of space in the weird orange storm that sat threatening in the distance...and which was still close enough to buffet the plane with winds and occasional orange tendrils of gas. A moment later, the Super Starfighter was on its catapult.

"Zero-One, you are cleared for takeoff," said the female voice of a flight ops tech in both of their headsets.

"Okay. Brace for launch," said Derek with a determined look on his face.

Nova gave Derek a smile and a thumbs-up. A moment later, the fighter roared off into space, heading towards the strange orange maelstrom that awaited.

The plane shook a bit as the winds blew in every now and then. "The magnetic force has dropped off...instruments normal," said Derek.

"The windspeed is moderate; it'll probably pick up as we get closer to the channel, Derek."

"Speaking of the devil, there it is, right in front of us." Wildstar smiled as a dark open patch of space drew closer. "One we get in there, the winds should decrease."

"I'll send back telemetry while you fly," said Nova. "Venture, this is Nova. Derek's got his throttle on full military...we're two hundred kilometers away from the entrance to the Wildstar Channel. He's about to begin his probe of the Channel in a moment."

Nova and Derek both blushed a little when they heard someone...it sounded like Holly, saying "Nova, tell him not to probe _too_ hard!" as some people in the background laughed.

Oh, great, thought Nova. _I just created one heck of a double entendre for them to chew on_. The laughter on the headphones continued as the young couple looked at each other with expressions somewhere between amusement and embarrassment until they heard Venture yelling, "This is a serious mission, cut the _crap_, guys! Nova, Derek, are you in the channel yet?"

thought Nova. . The laughter on the headphones continued as the young couple looked at each other with expressions somewhere between amusement and embarrassment until they heard Venture yelling, "This is a serious mission, cut the , guys! Nova, Derek, are you in the channel yet?" 

"I sure am," said Derek. "Looks nice and dark in here...looks like smooth flying. Over."

The winds had let up. "Windspeed minimal. We're in the eye of the storm, Derek. How long should this take?"

"Count on about twelve minutes' worth of flying time to get to the end, do a little recon on the other side, and then fourteen more minutes to get back to the ship. Venture, we're switching to internal communications only...we'll report back when we get to the end in eleven minutes."

"Roger," said Venture. "You guys want some privacy, huh?"

"Not you, now, Mark," laughed Derek. "What we discuss out here is none of your business. Captain and Lieutenant Wildstar out."

"They're up to something," said Rosstowski.

"Hey, Rosstowski," said Homer. "How hard is it to make an astrofighter into a passion pit?"

"Not them," said Orion. "They're both too intelligent, professional and moral for that. Now, as for those Hartcliffes..."

"Yeah," said Rosstowski. "If that Bryan guy ever gets out of the brig, that is..."

"And if that Angie ever talks to him again, that is..." said Holly.

"Yeah...said Raiden, who was manning the Cosmo-Radar for the moment in Nova's absence. "Now, those two nitwits...they're like a real soap opera. The Captain and Nova are cute...real _kawaii_. Those guys, on the other hand...they remind me of something on Spanish TV."

"Wonder what Bryan's doing now that he has his wings clipped?" quipped Rosstowski.

Sandor shrugged. "Not sure. I know one thing. Life isn't easy down below in that brig..."

* * *

The _Argo's _brig was in a secure spot, down near the bow, below the wave motion gun firing room, between the two bow torpedo firing rooms. Only one passage led to the brig, and it was designed so that it dead-ended into a bulkhead.

The brig included six tiny cells, each secured by heavy doors, a minuscule wardroom, a tiny shower stall, and a desk behind a pair of airlock-like doors (for security purposes) where a pair of armed Space Marine guards sat. A Living Group crewman, usually enlisted, would bring food to the prisoners twice a day. They were on somewhat reduced rations as part of their regular diet, unless they were assigned to bread and water, that is.

The Rikashan prisoner and Bryan Hartcliffe were currently the brig's only occupants. Bryan lay in his cell on a bare bunk. He wore only his underwear and uniform pants; all other clothing, including belt and boots, were taken from prisoners upon their incarceration. Serious suicide risks were stripped of everything but their underwear. Luckily, Hartcliffe had made no suicide gestures.

Bryan had the two books he was allowed...one was a copy of his faith's religious Scriptures (a King James Bible in his case) and another single book of his choice.

Henson had been halfway serious; she had taken a tech manual into the brig with her. In Bryan's case, it was a cheap, lurid and dirty paperback novel he loved. It was a book that Angie despised; now he finally had the time to read it.

In the other cell, Bryan heard the Rikashan prisoner muttering prayers in a singsong tone in his own alien language. "_Ahh...v'lad. V'lasha. T'unkalishciaed en to vierenkadish...en to virennasta en to re garenshal evo..._"

"SHUT UP!" yelled Hartcliffe as he banged on the bulkhead. "Quit prayin' to your friggin' Rikashan gods!"

The prisoner ignored him and continued with his song. "_Aaaaa...eletarento...elentarenshe...elenvorak edo...v'ranshaen...v'ranshan R'kesh. R'kesh e' torla e'mido en'sholo mashta ekominehe mi-ne mi-ne mi-ne mi-neooooo!_"

"SHUT UP!" roared Hartcliffe.

"Would you have me stop?" said the alien prisoner's voice in Terran through the bulkhead.

"YES! That mumbo-jumbo is drivin' me up the wall, man!"

"I am praying for peace between our peoples. I am praying for you, too, Terran friend, even though I know you are one of those who beat me. I have used my time in here as a prisoner of war to purge hatred from my soul. I suggest you do the same. I forgive you. I must pray out loud for the Gods to hear me, though."

"Well, do it a bit more quietly, mate!"

"I shall try." The murmuring then continued, but at a lower volume. Bryan could then get back to his diseased reading material.

* * *

In their plane, in the meantime, the Wildstars were still continuing their probe of the Wildstar Channel.

"Not bad," said Nova. "Windspeed's still the same, spotting an object to port..."

"Evading," said Derek as the plane altered course a little to avoid a small asteroid caught in the eye of the storm. "Easy. Just like a Sunday drive."

"I should've brought a picnic lunch, Derek. My handmade sushi, ham sandwiches or teriyaki beef, ant spray, me in a sundress, you in shorts..."

"Hey, you're giving me ideas!" chuckled Derek.

"A blanket...windspeed letting up...we're at the epicenter of the storm, now..."

"Halfway there! This is far as I got the last time we were here."

"Why'd you only go halfway?"

"The fuel capacity wasn't as great as what we have in this plane now. You note the wing tanks are bigger."

"Oh. Sorry...should've thought about it."

"Yeah," said Derek. "Hey, Nova...you want that picnic in a meadow or on the beach?"

"Having some trouble deciding that...both sound good," said Nova as she looked at the instruments. "Radar's clear. Nice and quiet."

They fell quiet for a few minutes as the plane cruised on. Finally, with bated breath, they saw the end of the channel coming up. They held hands for a minute, and then Derek focused on his flying.

"Well, guys," said Derek as he resumed communications with the ship, "The channel goes all the way out, and it's clear. Nothing out here that we can see on either radar or visually. Looks like we'll be able to get out, take bearings, and then warp onwards again."

"Great!" said Venture. "We'll be waiting for you guys on the bridge. Get back soon!"

"We will," said Nova as Derek began a wide, looping turn to port, back towards the channel. "Mission accomplished."

On the first bridge, the remaining crew cheered. Venture said, "Okay...Orion...bring those engines up! Sandor, we have the canopies down?"

"We do," said Sandor. "The last ones were taken down this morning."

"Engines coming up on line now," said Orion. "Switch on auxiliary engine!"

Down below, the sound of the auxiliaries coming up both encouraged and cheered the crew.

At last, thought Venture. _At last, we're on our way again._

thought Venture. 

The starboard side doors suddenly flew open, and Aliscea came running onto the bridge in a long-sleeved black dress with heart-shaped pendant. "Commander Venture!" she cried. _Paul!_ I have just detected a troubling mental impression!"

"What is it?" said Rosstowski.

"An intelligence...or intelligences...is searching for us. _Urgently_! They have become aware of our presence here!"

"How close are they?" said Venture.

"I'm not sure," said Aliscea as she wrung her hands. "It's hard to tell. I think the storm in the distance is disrupting my perceptions. All I know is that _someone_ is looking for us! And they mean to find us?"

"Who?" asked Rosstowski.

"I have felt his mental vibrations before, Paul. He is a Rikashan. Baron Anton Cha'rif!"

"Baron Cha'rif?" said Venture. "Homer, get Wildstar on the horn right now, or...I swear..."

"I'll do it, Venture!" snapped Homer.

* * *

"Wildstar!" said Venture's voice urgently in Derek and Nova's headsets as they completed their turn. "Wildstar!"

"Yeah! What is it, Mark?""

"Aliscea's just spotted something on her mental radar, or whatever you call it. She says Cha'rif of Rikasha is around...somewhere. Did you guys spot anything that would look like an enemy fleet?"

"I scanned with all of the resolution I have on this scope," said Nova. "I didn't spot anything." She looked uneasily at Derek.

"Mark, try to get Aliscea to tell us where they are!"

"I'll try. She said she's having a hard time picking up anything due to the Octopus Group..."

"Well, tell her to try harder!"

"Got it. She's sitting at Analysis now..."

* * *

"Zaed," said Baron Anton Cha'rif's voice over the speakers of a Rikashan scout ship sitting twenty megameters away from the far side of the Octopus Star Group, well beyond the range of the Super Starfighter's radar. "What have you spotted? I have picked up mental impressions myself. Aliscea is aroused."

"One Terran plane. Heading back towards the channel for the Star Storm. They think they can get out. Aliscea has alerted them to our presence, Lord. They have no idea where we are, though."

"Good. This will still work...I think," said Cha'rif. "Tell Baron V'dal, another brother _R'jkharraz _like myself, to stand by with his one hundred-ship task force. I want him to attack the _Argo_ with his mind as soon as they emerge. Then, we will disable her, take Aliscea in a boarding operation, and then blow that ship to smithereens so they can't appraise Earth of our plans now that the _ji'had_ has finally been declared by Lord Zaden as of four days ago. We are at war now, our peoples. And it is a holy war. I want to leave corpses in my wake today, Captain Zaed. My patience with the Star Force has just run out. I have a _fatwa _upon them that I mean to carry out. I just hope they give me a good fight so I feel better about taking all of their lives."

"When are you bringing up your fleet, Baron?"

"At the end. I want their wave motion gun disabled before we take Aliscea. Then, I will destroy them myself with my DI'ATS cannon. Today sees the final day of existence for the rebuilt _Yamato_, which, as the Terrans put it, I shall now send to Davy Jones' Locker. _Forever!_"

On that note, both men laughed.

* * *

Aboard the Argo, Derek and Nova landed safely in the port side upper fighter bay. Other Black Tiger pilots and flight crew surrounded their plane, cheering and applauding like crazy.

"Nice job!" said Conroy. "I hear you guys made it all the way, this time."

"We did. We...know it's clear out there, now."

"Except for Cha'rif," said Nova.

Laurel Hartmann ran up to her. "Did you _see _anything? Do you know where he is?"

"No," said Nova. "But you know the radar in this plane only has a four-megameter range. A lot could be out there beyond four thousand space kilometers that I couldn't pick up or see at the farthest part of our orbit out there."

"How far did you get?" asked Conroy.

"Two megameters past the edge of the black cloud into open space," said Derek as Venture ran up. "Good thing you're here, Mark," said Derek. "What we're doing is scanning even before we leave the channel. We're going into that channel on full battle stations. We're getting ready to warp out towards Beemira as soon as we get out of this; our charts to that point are pretty damn good, and we can do a twenty-one thousand light-year jump easily now with the new engine. Much as it goes against my grain, we have no time for a battle now, particularly against one of those psionics. Let that scheming Rikashan bastard chew on that one," said Derek with a smile. "We know this space...he doesn't. If we get a head start, we can get to Iscandar in four or five days before he knows what hit him. Let him just _try_ to find us over twenty-one thousand lightyears," chuckled Derek as he walked towards the lift followed by Venture, Nova, and Sandor. "I'll betcha his powers _don't_ reach _that_ far."

"How do we know that?" said Sandor thoughtfully.

"My God, I hope his powers _don't_ go that far," said Nova.

"You and me both," said Derek. "You and me both..."

* * *

II. THE BEGINNING OF YVONA'S REBIRTH

The Grand Technomugar Fortress

Lord Ekogaru's Audience Chamber

Wednesday February 17, 2202

1600 Hours Spacetime

* * *

"Is this place Heaven?" whispered Yvona Josiah as she walked down a huge black corridor that was trimmed with many pillars.

"The Lord's Throne Room looks a bit different than you imagine it would be," said Gralnacz with a smile. "That is because the Lord is filled with wrath."

He and Yvona were escorted by two female guards in burgundy tunics. They wore shiny silver helmets with blue plumes, and the cyborg women also wore masks to hide their true faces. The eyes on the masks glowed with venomous green light, as did the corridor.

Yvona, who was still in her sackcloth dress, stolen EDF Captain's peacoat, and rope sandals, shivered as they stood before two brass doors that seemed to be about three stories high. The huge doors were covered with skulls, grotesque and beautiful faces, and strange signs of every kind, as well as what Yvona guessed was strange writing. She carried an alien bag with a few of her oddments in it, including, for some strange reason, Nova's stolen pink romper and boots. She didn't know why she was clinging to these items that she could no longer fit into in her fat, aged form. Some compulsion in the back of her mind caused her to bring them.

The female guards nodded, opening the doors after pausing for a moment. Yvona wondered how they took the cold with what appeared to be bare legs and boots that looked like gladiator sandals on their bare feet. The cold that Yvona had felt for the past day ever since she and Gralnacz had arrived here on this vast metal world that Gralnacz told her was his Lord's Battle Fortress was really getting to her.

"How do you abide this cold, woman?" asked Yvona.

"We are cyborgs," said the young guardsman in a soft voice. "I am named Keesha. Our bodies are different than yours. We have embraced the glory of being mechanical lifeforms. Only our brains are still organic. Thanks to the creative power of our Lord Ekogaru, we shall live forever. He must favor you highly. He commands that you have an audience with Him. Alone."

"Remember to bow before Him when you see the Presence," said Gralnacz. "He does not take affronts lightly. No, not even from those He favors."

All of the Technomugar present went down onto their knees when the huge doors opened by themselves with a creaking sound and a vast rumble. Something like a light, cold fog filtered forth from the room.

And, music.

It sounded as if some Being was playing an eerie amplified harpsichord in this haunted place.

Yvona looked in as the doors opened. It was a huge, round room, filled with crumbling pillars and strange works of stone that surrounded some circular chamber. In its center, facing something that looked to Yvona like massive stained-glass windows was a huge black throne on a high dais. But, it was empty.

Off to one side of the room stood something that looked like a huge pipe organ with brazen pipes. It was illuminated by massive banks of what appeared to be flickering candles.

A Being sat there playing some baroque piece that sounded like a J. S. Bach fugue. He was playing like a madman.

From what she could see of the Form in the strange darkness that surrounded him, he seemed to be wearing a vast black cloak or greatcoat. His eyes glowed red as he banged tormented, haunted notes out of his instrument in an eerie minor key.

My God, the Lord God is a virtuoso, thought Yvona. _He is also very tall. If He's that tall when He's sitting down, He must be nine feet tall!_

, thought Yvona. 

"Lord," said Yvona Josiah in a small, cracked voice. "It has been a long and terrible journey. It is an honor to stand in Thy Presence."

Gralnacz gasped. He got up and struck Yvona in the back of the head. "Fool! You do not speak to our Lord until He speaks to you first! What do you wish to do, bring down His Wrath on all of us?"

The Presence played a few more notes and then stopped. The cold grew worse as the terrible Form stood, raising Himself to his full nine-foot height.

"Gralnacz," said a deep, cold voice that sent shivers of both fear...and recognition through Yvona's mind. It was the Voice of her Lord that she had heard all along in her mind, and, for the first time, her heart nearly stopped upon hearing that terrible yet awesome Voice as a physical voice for the first time. "I don't like it when you strike my Children...my Chosen Ones. You shall apologize to Yvona Josiah, formerly of the Terran clan of Bourdeaux, the former wife of Hiram Josiah, and the aunt of my enemy Nova Wildstar, and you shall do it at once. Remain kneeling, Gralnacz! Yvona, _you_ may rise as he apologizes to you."

Yvona stood, trying to hide her trembling, as Gralnacz prostrated himself before her, lowering his forehead to the floor. "Yvona Josiah, favored of the Lord Ekogaru, please accept my humble apologies for striking Thee."

"Your apology has been accepted," snapped Yvona in what she hoped was the proper tone for her to use.

"Good, Yvona," said Ekogaru. "You pass your first test. I _can _use you. Now, come forth and meet with me. Gralnacz, rise! You and the guardswomen shall leave us."

"Yes, My Lord," said Gralnacz. He glared at Yvona for a moment before he left with the women.

Yvona stepped over the threshold into the vast chamber and stood before the organ.

The Terrible Being made the darkness dispel somewhat, and she found that she was looking at a personage who seemed to have grown a little shorter. He was about six feet ten inches in height, and he wore an impressive white uniform and huge sword under his black cloak lined with gold satin. His boots were highly polished, and his face looked human, although with a slight greenish tint to the skin.

His eyes glowed slightly in his somewhat wrinkled but still-strong face. His hair was long, wild, and parted at the middle. It was mostly black, with grey at the temples. He wore an iron circlet of some kind around his brow. He had a heavy mustache, and below the mustache, he was grinning.

"I am Ekogaru the Great. Lord of the New Creation, the soon-to-be supplanter of the Almighty Himself," he said with a darkly attractive smile. "I have discovered the secret of Eternal Life and wish to share it with others."

"And that secret is?"

"Assumption of a new form. I am the first, oldest, and, as I have evolved constantly, the greatest of the Technomugar Race. I wish to recreate all intelligent life after My Own Image. I am a machine with a physical brain, a brain, regrettably, still of flesh. I am involved now in experiments to replace that flesh with machinery. I have partly succeeded, but the machine needed to house a living human intelligence is vast, and huge, taking up two towers of my battle fortress. I would like you to share this gift with me and lead the people of Earth, who have a great potential, into eternal life as my Prophetess. I shall grant you a measure of my own power to do so. I grant this privilege to few; Gralnacz is one of those beings who shares in some of my power. He has done great things for me. But, I sense, you can do greater. Indeed, you have. From afar, you tasted of some of my power, of some of the eternal youth I can confer, and you exercised that power upon others. That was a great thing you did with just one ship; wiping out that Terran city of Chicago and killing millions of infidels. I can give you a body like mine to share in that privilege. A body that can do this..."

And, with a shock, Yvona almost passed out, because Derek Wildstar stood before her in his peacoat and white slacks.

"No, it's still me," said "Wildstar" in Derek's voice. "I am still Ekogaru. Or, perhaps you would prefer to do this?'

"Wildstar" twirled, morphing before Yvona's startled eyes into the image of her niece in a pink dress and boots. "This is a style of 20th century France," said "Nova" in a precise, eerie facsimile of her niece's voice. "I call it "Image of the Rose" modeled for you by Nova Wildstar," giggled Ekogaru as he flounced around the chamber. "Nova" then giggled, but the laugh then turned utterly maniacal, deepening as the form changed again and Ekogaru again assumed his terrible form as the Dark Lord, nine feet worth of terror and shadow with eyes that burned orange like angry flame. He raised his hand, and the organ/harpsichord began to play by itself, playing a particularly twisted and fast version of the fugue Yvona had heard before.

"Johann Sebastian Bach's _Passicaglia and Fugue in C Minor_," said Ekogaru with a deep, sepulchral voice as Yvona trembled. "One of the few things about your pitiable race's culture I have taken a liking to. It is a piece written by this master that suits my personality. Too bad the man is dead. He would have made a great Court Composer for myself. Perhaps someday, when I have full mastery over Time, I can travel back into time and induce him to join with us. Would you join with us and share this power?"

"Yes...I would," said Yvona.

"Good. We shall begin. "

* * *

III. CAUGHT!

Space Battleship _Argo_

The Edge of the Octopus Star Storm

Wednesday February 17, 2202

1622 Hours Spacetime

* * *

The _Argo's_ red-alert klaxons were going off all over the ship as she finally turned and began to navigate the Wildstar Channel out of the Octopus Star Storm. After many days, the space battleship's forced confinement had finally come to an end.

Captain Wildstar ran to the bridge without his peacoat and he stayed like that as he sat down at his post. "Do you have it, Venture?"

"So far, so good," said Mark. "The solar wind isn't so bad, and there's hardly any turbulence to speak of. I think we'll have an easier flight than usual with the new engine."

"Good," said Derek. Before him, Nova was spelling Raiden as she took back her post.

"I'm picking areas of magnetic flux in the stars themselves," said Sandor. "Wildstar, we'd better keep our thinking caps on during this passage. The storm could come up again in a minute."

"He's right," said Aliscea from where she sat at the Analysis post with one sandaled foot up on an edge of the console, showing quite a bit of her leg in an almost innocent fashion. Paul smiled and sent to her, _Aliscea, you don't sit that way on the bridge. We can all see your bare thigh in that dress! _

I'm comfortable, _Paul_, she thought back. _I need to be comfortable to concentrate. Why are you worrying about me showing my leg? It's a...leg. _

I don't want everyone seeing your leg, Aliscea. It's only for me.

Aliscea smiled and stuck out her tongue at him.

Okay, thought Paul. _Be that way!_

thought Paul. 

Aliscea grinned at Paul and put up her other leg.

"Miss Aliscea," said Venture. "Would you please put your legs down?"

"Why?" said the psionic in all innocence as she shut her eyes and tried to focus on Cha'rif.

Because you're acting immature, dear, thought Nova to herself from her post while fixing her chair's headrest. _I don't show **my **legs to Derek while we're in danger!_

thought Nova to herself from her post while fixing her chair's headrest. 

"It's...a safety issue, Miss," Venture said. "You could be thrown from your chair!"

"Oh, all right," said Aliscea. She smiled, looking back at Paul and then Nova for a minute, but she took a bit of time tying one of her sandals and humming to herself before putting her legs down hard when the ship shook beneath them. _Immature?_ thought the Pellian princess. _Hah! I'll show you!_

"What is it?" said Dash as he looked at Venture straining at the helm.

"Turbulence," said Venture. "We're hitting it now!"

"Cell of turbulence mapped at Star Gamma...the solar wind's picking up!" cried Nova from her post.

"Captain," said Holly. "I...I know we're at battle stations, but may I be excused for a minute?"

"Why, Parsons?" asked Wildstar.

Holly walked up to Wildstar's post and whispered something in his ear. Wildstar nodded, and said, "All right. We're not actually in combat yet, so you're excused." As Parsons ran off, Wildstar called down to bridge Number two. "Mister Raiden, get back up here. Take over for Miss Parsons for about five minutes."

"Roger." The huge man appeared a moment later.

"We're halfway through," said Venture. "Speed, twenty-three space knots."

"Holly, help me map that cell," said Nova. She looked up from her screen and saw Raiden there. "Where's Parsons?"

"Dunno," said Raiden. "Watch RTZ-234, ma'am. Don't look good."

"Got it," said Nova. "Mark, turbulence mapped at RTZ-234. Hard a'starboard!"

"Hard a'starboard," repeated Venture.

The ship moved, and then it shook like crazy.

"What the...?" said Venture while he clung to the helm.

"We're almost out!" cried Nova. "But I'm picking up a reaction on radar just beyond the edge of the storm. I'm trying to stabilize it!"

The _Argo_ moved a little further. The edge of the storm loomed up like a tunnel mouth. The ship emerged from the channel...and passed through the edge of the black cloud into open space, and then, into...chaos.

Utter chaos.

"Oh, NO!" cried Nova. "Reaction confirmed. There's...one hundred and ten ships waiting before us! They're blocking the mouth of the tunnel...they..."

"Range!" demanded Wildstar.

"Sixteen megameters!" said Nova. "They're closing fast!"

"Dash, lock main guns on that fleet!" snapped Derek. "Homer, get their commander and find out what they want. Nova, confirm their identity!"

"Rikashan!" she cried a minute later. "Fifteen battleships, ten carriers, twenty heavy cruisers, forty destroyers, twenty corvettes! They're..."

Then, Venture couldn't do anything, and neither could Dash, because the worst headaches they had ever felt in their lives exploded behind their foreheads.

"All hands..." gasped Wildstar. "get on your safety harnesses...fight those headaches...It must be another psi-attack..."

"It is," said Aliscea confidently as she stood up and began to gleam slightly. "I'm...I'm working on blocking it...but I can't stop the physical attack..."

She clung to the console as a combination of livid orange, green, and yellow energy bolts whizzed in from the enemy fleet. The black lead battleship executed a turn, and was firing at a fast, terrifying rate that the Star Force hadn't seen since the day that Zordar had attacked them with his dreadnought. The bridge crew's headaches cleared...just in time for them to see a withering enemy attack.

"Trying to lock on main guns," said Dash through sweat while he and Rosstowski worked the ship's turrets. "Hard because they're moving so fast..."

"All hands _brace for impact_!" yelled Wildstar over the klaxons.

A moment later, the _Argo_ shook like a house in a storm as she was hit by at least twenty energy surges at once. Explosion after explosion resounded throughout the ship as, for once, the great defender of Earth was caught right before her guns could speak back to the enemy.

"This is auxiliary engine control!" said a voice over Sandor's headset. "We've taken a hit!"

"The galley has taken a hit!"

"_Living block is hit!_"

"Counterattack missile control hit!" yelled a crewman down below right before another hit ripped the compartment open_. "Yaaarrrgggh!_" he screamed as an explosion took their lives.

"Upper starboard radar hit!" cried another voice.

"Derek!" cried Nova from her post while holding her harness shut; she had gotten to it but hadn't locked it yet. "My resolution has dropped by twenty-five percent! Trying to compensate! We're getting blind spots!"

"Raiden!" yelled Wildstar. "Pick up that blind spot with the battle radar!"

"Got it!"

"Main gun turret number one locked on!" yelled Rosstowski.

"Seek permission to fire, Captain!" yelled Dash.

"Fire at will!" yelled Wildstar. A moment later, the _Argo's_ guns went off, hitting a Rikashan battleship.

"Second wave incoming!" yelled Raiden from the battle radar. "It's..."

"Medical crew Alpha, get to the living block!" yelled Sane over the noise over Rosstowski's shoulder...just as chaos struck again.

The _Argo_ was hit, and then, the ship took a hit to port, in the bridge tower, just two decks below the first bridge.

As the ship was shaken by another hit, Raiden's console short-circuited under him, and the huge man was flung from his seat.

Venture was knocked from his seat and landed on top of Dash.

Nova was thrown from her seat. While she struggled to her feet, another hit came, and she screamed and struck her head against the front of her own radar console. Her head sagged against the console as she lay there unconscious with smoke beginning to fill the bridge. Homer got up, slapping himself, since his console was burning and so was his shirt. So was Rosstowski's.

Doctor Sane was knocked out of his _geta_ and thrown back on top of Homer.

But the worst of all was what happened to Orion. He jumped up, trying to shield himself as his main status screen exploded. He was partly successful, but a splinter of glass caught him right in the stomach. The old man gasped and fell bleeding to his knees.

"_Orion_!" yelled Venture as he ran over to assist. "Hold your stomach!"

Derek, in the meantime, was up out of his seat, ministering to Nova. He fanned away smoke as he yelled her name.

With shaking hands, he felt her neck. _There's still a pulse, thank God_, he thought. "Nova..." he crooned. "Nova!"

"Anybody get the license number of that truck?" she said in a slurred voice as her glassy eyes popped open. "I...Derek! Where are we?"

"In battle. And for God's sake...get those fires out! Orion! Give us a hand!" said Wildstar as he coughed. "_Orion!_"

In the meantime, Doctor Sane had gotten over, ignoring the glass that cut his bare feet as he ran over. "Derek...he'll never respond to any orders again, I'm afraid."

"What?"

"Captain, Orion's dead."

* * *

IV. ANOTHER STRIKE

Space Battleship _Argo_

The Edge of the Octopus Star Storm

Wednesday February 17, 2202

1712 Hours Spacetime

* * *

At the moment, Holly Parsons wasn't thinking about much except trying to deal with the pain in her head. The pain was the result of a rather unfriendly meeting between the back of her head and a bulkhead inside a lift that was rushing up the bridge tower to the first bridge. The reason she had fallen was because of a hard quiver caused by another hit to the ship.

As Holly ground her teeth and rubbed the back of her head, another hit resounded through the structure of the space battleship, and she emerged out the hatch into a scene that was not pleasant.

An acrid smell of smoke hung over the bridge as Holly noticed that Rosstowski was up from his post, spraying his burning console with a fire extinguisher, with Homer's and Aliscea's aid.

"Captain," yelled Sandor over the noise. "That third hit resulted in damage to the bow radar!"

"What are you doing with Orion?" asked Sandor. "We need engineering cleared. Yamazaki will be up here in a minute."

"We're moving him now," said Nova while she and Dr. Sane worked together at moving his limp corpse out of the way. Tears ran down her cheeks, but she bit her lip to keep from sobbing. It was already bleeding because of how she had bit herself when she had fallen to the deck. _You were always one of my best friends_, she thought. _You were always there. I liked your family, too, including your youngest son Timothy and your granddaughter Cathleen. What will they think when they hear you're...you're...dead?_

Nova helped Sane move him to a small corner off behind Homer's post. Derek was there, not quite believing what happened as he looked at the old man's still face.

For a moment, both she and the Captain fell into each other's arms and wept. Finally, through his tears, Derek said, "Nova...we've still got a battle to fight. We'll..."

"Cry for him later. I understand," she said in a broken voice. She let go of her husband and fiercely wiped her nose on her sleeves. "We've got to put these fires out, Derek!"

"You bet," he said as IQ-9 came through the doors with an armful of fire extinguishers.

"I'm okay," grunted Raiden as he ran over with a soot-covered face. "You okay, Parsons?"

"Yeah. I'm fine." Then, she screamed as she saw Sandor coming over minus an arm. "_OhmyGod!_" she cried. "You have no right arm and you're still working?"

"Bionic," he said grimly. "I'm a cyborg. It just snapped off. I'll live," he said. "Once I fought a battle with no arms _or_ legs, Parsons."

"How...how did that happen to...?"

"Long story," he said as he patted Parsons on the arm. "Aliscea! Are you all right?"

"Still blocking them," she said, ignoring a cut on her leg as she continued to gleam slightly. "I'll live," she said as Rosstowski helped her up.

"Sit there at Analysis," he said. "And use that harness."

She nodded, locking herself in place as more enemy fire roared in. The ship trembled again, but, a moment later, she responded with randomly-fired pulse lasers. The _Argo_ was on the ropes, but she was far, far from finished yet, despite the grievous wounds that both ship and crew had suffered.

The ship was hit again, and Holly fell screaming to the deck. "Parsons!" cried Sane as he ran over. A silence passed as Venture's heart pounded. Finally, Sane said. "She's OK. Just had the wind knocked out of her."

"Main radar's out," said Nova after putting some fires out. "I'll take Parsons' post for a minute. Oh! I'm scanning. There's an asteroid field off to port!"

"That's it!" said Venture. "Wildstar...we can get some breathing space in there."

"Great! Go for it until we're ready to respond!" said Wildstar from his station as Holly ran for her post, which she noticed was being manned by Nova. A glance out the bridge windows made Holly's heart sink as she realized that they were in an asteroid field. Holly finally reached her post as Nova called out, "I've confirmed...ten enemy ships following us...they're off the starboard side...range...nine megameters," in a slightly funny voice. Holly wondered why Nova had her hand up to her mouth until Nova moved it and she realized with a gasp that her friend's lower lip had some blood running down it.

"Why were you _late?_" asked Nova as she got up from her post.

"Business...of a personal nature, ma'am," said Holly.

"Well, get here more quickly next time," whispered Nova in a slurred voice with a wink.

"Are you all right?" she asked as she sat down.

"I'm fine: tend to your post!" said Nova. "Right now, they're in that clear area in your scope."

Holly noticed them and began to call out ranges as Homer ran towards his post, stopping along the way to help fight the fire.

"Crap, my console's _history!_" snapped Rosstowski as Homer joined the fire brigade.

"Must've been that hit we took near Mechanical," said Homer. "That overload seems to have zipped right up your wiring trunk. Good thing my console wasn't hit."

"But I can't command the gunnery crews from here now! Captain," said Rosstowski to Wildstar. "Request permission to operate my post from the third bridge."

Wildstar, who was just getting back to his post, glanced at his readouts for a moment and finally said, "Rosstowski, permission granted. Get down there _now_ after you shut down your post. The fire's almost out, and Sandor and Homer can handle getting the last embers of the blaze out."

"Yessir," said Rosstowski as he saluted and turned to his task. In the meantime, Sandor was still working with his good arm, and he and Homer were ripping wires out of Rosstowski's console by the lower access panels so that he could get a few spritzes of the fire retardant compound in the guts of the unit.

"The enemy fleet is trying to form a ring," called out Nova from her post. "However, they're having a bit of a time trying to get a fix on us."

"Their psionic can't even concentrate upon us," said Aliscea. "He's the fleet commander, and he's too distracted with these asteroids. I'm not," she said cheerily.

"Good," said Wildstar.

"How is it?" asked Homer.

"Rosstowski was right," replied Sandor. "This console's had it. It'll take me at least two days to get it repaired."

IQ-9 appeared through the port side lift hatch a moment later with a few extra fire extinguishers. "Sandor, you said you would need these?" he said.

Sandor stood up and wiped his brow. "Thanks, IQ, but we have this fire under control. Leave a few of these in case we have any more problems and go assist Royster and the damage control parties in Mechanical."

"On my way..." he said. "Why do I always get up here a little too late? A genius like myself should be able to calculate the probability of hits to the bridge in a battle and act accordingly. I guess that means I'm a failure. Orion died because I was not fast enough."

"IQ," said Nova. "None of us could've calculated this event to the moment. You're not a failure!"

"I am...for a genius," he said. After he left the extinguishers, he left. Rosstowski and Homer returned to their posts a moment later, both looking a little rumpled. Wildstar noticed that the cut on the inside of Nova's lip must've finally stopped bleeding because she wasn't dabbing at her mouth any more. He smiled at her, and she smiled back.

In the meantime, Rosstowski shut down his post and said, "I'm leaving now, sir."

"Good luck on bridge number three," said Derek. "Get in touch with us by intership communications as soon as possible."

"Yessir." Then, Paul left after giving Aliscea a quick kiss.

"Captain!" said Nova. "The enemy units off the starboard side are now at five megameters range, but I don't know why they're not firing!"

"Sir!" said Homer. "I'm receiving a message!"

"Put it on video."

"Yessir."

The screen was filled with the image of a huge, rather ugly-looking spacecraft interior. Everything was in dark brown or red, and there seemed to be some kind of evil-looking fog or smoke in the air on the alien vessel. A bald, grey-bearded officer was in a black and white uniform similar to the pattern that they remembered on Cha'rif's uniform. He had orange skin and piercing green-on-green eyes which gazed out at them with a look of utter hatred. In the background, not far from his command chair, they could see others like him in light grey and black uniforms similar to his but not quite as elaborate.

"Permit me to introduce myself," said the alien in a guttural, heavily accented whisper. "I am Admiral Baron Tanshar V'dal, Commanding Officer of the Second Task Force of the Fourth Sherikhan Group of the Rikashan Star Empire, in the service of the Baron Cha'rif, son of the Duke Cha'rif, vassal of the Sublime Lord T'Grish Zaden, political ruler of our Holy Empire. I am the commander of the Fleet Flagship _Er'vartz,_ never before defeated in battle! I am here with a large task force, augmented on the Baron's orders, in the service of the priests and priestesses of our Warbringer, a God who does _not_ desire that you meddle further into our private business. You blasphemed him. That is why we are also at war with you now. Thought you would like to know that. Who are _you_, Terranisch?"

Wildstar stood up. "Admiral V'dal, I am Captain Derek Wildstar, Captain of the space battleship _Argo_, base ship of the First Interstellar Special Mission Force of the United Earth Federation, also known as the Star Force. You bet we're at war! It's a war your people started! In the past several weeks, forces from your Empire have intruded into our territorial space, attacking both civilian and military space vessels. You have taken hostages, as well. And your commander, Cha'rif, has broken promises to us. We have business of our own in the Great Magellenic Cloud which is no threat to your people. Since we are on a peaceful scientific and diplomatic mission, I demand that you heave to and permit us to continue on our journey. Otherwise, meeting me will be the worst thing that's ever happened to you in your miserable life!"

V'dal laughed a cold, evil laugh. "You, Captain, are an idiot. I have my own orders. I am commanded to disable your vessel and capture you and certain members of your crew . You will do so, or else."

"Never," said Wildstar as he stood there with his teeth bared. "Or rather, why don't you just _try_ it?"

"Ah. If you do not heave to, you will be boarded and captured."

"Try it. We're all ready for a _good fight_," said Derek, with his defiance matched on every face on that bridge.

"Wildstar, the first thing we will do to you to break you according to our purposes will be to finish attacking you, and then to blast the burning remains of the _Argo_ apart as you watch, aware that most of your crew has been left aboard. I'm sure the long-overdue final end of your reclaimed old Japanese warship will make you confess why you're really here, eh? Especially if, like me, your ship is akin to your woman? If that doesn't work, maybe seeing your women used by some of my troopers right on your bridge will break your will," leered V'dal with an evil smile. "My Baron hates that sort of thing, but he's a prude. I am not. Pity you met me! Do you turn back or do we get _busy?_"

"Admiral V'dal, you aren't _fit_ to talk to me about my ship or my officers. Both of them are an inspiration to all of Earth! Let's see if you can back up your talk with _action_, Admiral!"

"All this from a man who can't leave his accursed squeeze and other women at home where they belong," hissed V'dal.

"You can drop dead!" barked Nova as she stood. "I'm here because I'm a warrior like everyone else on this ship! I'm here because I want to be."

"Oh, what a pretty little warrior you make. Very well! I'll act! But if we get over-enthusiastic, forget our orders and blow your corpses to the winds of space in the mother of all battles, don't blame me when you fall screaming into the Pit of hell! You drop _dead_, woman! You too, Captain!" roared V'dal as he laughed like a madman while fading off the screen.

More golden-green bolts of plasma energy skipped around the _Argo_ as Venture maneuvered madly through the asteroid field, Wildstar held onto his console and said, "We'll _see_, Admiral...we'll _see!_"

* * *

In the meantime, many decks below, the lift doors on the third bridge opened as Rosstowski ran onto the bridge. The ranking officer on the third bridge at the moment, Lt. Todd Voorhees, was also in charge of the second bridge.

"Paul!" he said as Rosstowski arrived. "The aft gun turret just took a hit. The gunnery captain's been injured there!"

"You take command there and try to get that turret back to optimal status," said Rosstowski. "I have to command Artillery from here..."

"I know, Paul," he said. "Dash informed us of the damage on the first bridge." As Rosstowski took another officer's place, the _Argo_ was hit again, and Rosstowski began to report on the intercom, "Dash...I've taken command of Artillery here. At the moment, the aft main turret is out due to another short circuit and the injury of Mister Solomon! However, all forward main turrets are operational, as well as all of the auxiliaries."

"Good: stand by for orders."

"Range, four megameters!" cried Nova. "They're closing! I read two battleships, ten heavy cruisers, and twenty-four destroyers! They got a good sized squadron together. They're within our firing range!"

"We can get them now," said Venture.

"Damn straight," smiled Derek. "Dash, you know what to do."

"Roger! Open all remaining guns!" barked Dash as the _Argo_ maneuvered through the asteroid field as the Rikashans swarmed in. "Target, the Rikashan task force!"

This region of space was too full of asteroids and junk to send out the Black Tigers, but they were on alert-five anyway. In his cockpit, Hardy held on to his locked-down plane as the ship heeled about and maneuvered wildly to gain an advantage.

Right now, this was Venture's hour, along with Dash. Mark grinned slightly as he grunted to work his controls, noticing that the enemy fleet had been forced to break ranks and manuever wildly through the field to get a bead on the space battleship.

Now, this is like so many other battles we've been in, thought Venture._ The battle of Pluto: the battle we fought to evade Captain Gideon and the _Andromeda _in September 2201:_ _the battle we fought near Telezart in the space cyclone: just us, the ship, the gunners, and a million pieces of space junk. What a challenge!_

thought Venture. 

"Derek!" said Nova. "Half the fleet has broken off and is advancing at full speed! Four of their cruisers and their eight escorts are converging at forty degrees starboard! They must be trying to hit us at short range!"

"The range is _damn_ short," said Holly. "It's just one-point two megameters! It's too close!"

"Venture!" called out Wildstar. "Forty degrees starboard! Dash! Hit them with our forward guns!"

"Roger!" grunted Venture as he swung the ship around as she streamed smoke from her battle wounds.

Dash called to Rosstowski over the intercom, "Range to target, 1.2 megameters."

Rosstowski responded with, "Correct targeting: Lower elevation minus 14 degrees."

As Rosstowski worked on bridge three, the guns ponderously moved downwards. "On target!" said Rosstowski.

"FIRE!" snapped Wildstar.

"_FIRE!_" repeated Dash as he punched the safety switch.

As the Rikashan cruisers fired, the _Argo's_ plasma beams blasted into their sides, destroying two of them at once, as well as one of their destroyer escorts. A second salvo destroyed three more destroyers. As the Terran space battleship pitched sharply upwards from the plane of the ecliptic to avoid most of their short-range fire, the Rikashan cruiser force commander, named Captain Vichna, went berserk and slaughtered his own Combat officer with his own scimitar, furious that his officer's gamble had failed. Then, with a curse, he threw the limp corpse off the seat in front of his startled crew and threw himself into the seat to work the controls himself, screaming, "That _v'lecan shiadre'metz'verz'n azki'echhh_ fool! I will do this myself! You idiots had better act up to par or thine heads will join _his_ on the deck! CRIPPLE that stinking whore-master's ship!"

Then, the remaining two Rikashan cruisers and their escorts regrouped and fired again as the _Er'vartz_ and the other battleship sped up, to follow them, accompanied by their destroyers and cruisers.

The _Er'vartz,_ its three cruisers and eight destroyers caught up with the _Argo_ first. On a signal from V'dal, the squadron joined with the remnants of the cruiser squadron that had attacked the _Argo_ a moment ago as the _Er'vartz's_ sister battleship, the _V'Shanda,_ brought up the van with its cruisers and destroyers.

"_ALL ships!_" snapped V'dal. "Since neither of our battleships have _D'IATS_ surge cannons, unlike our Lord Baron's flagship, we must cripple the enemy with our guns. All ships, surround the _Argo!_"

At that, the battleship, five cruisers, and twelve destroyers swung around and surrounded the _Argo_, blasting at it as they circled the Terran ship. For a moment, the Star Force was caught in a madly blasting ring of ships just as the _Paladin_ had been caught in a ring of Gamilon destroyers in 2199.

The aft auxiliary gun turret was filled with fire as it took a hit, killing its gun crew.

Not far away, fire raked across two starboard side pulse laser gunhouses, killing even more gunners. As Sandor's damage status screen lit up like a deranged Christmas tree, Wildstar hissed and snapped at Venture, "Pitch ninety degrees above the ecliptic, and full power on all engines!"

Venture struggled to make the turn as the _Argo_ took three more hits, and then he smiled and said, "All engines, _ahead full!_"

The smoking _Argo_ rocketed up out of the plane of battle as Nova called, "NO! I read thirty-five more ships advancing on us!"

Venture maneuvered wildly to avoid stray asteroids as a premonition suddenly came to Aliscea.

In her mind's eye, she saw something tumbling towards them: not an asteroid, but a spinning piece of spacecraft wreckage: perhaps the long-dead remains of another warship that had fought a battle here and lost centuries ago. Having no time to muse upon which other enemy had waylaid the crew of that ship here, she cried: "Venture! Slow to three-quarters speed and change course fifty degrees to port! There's a wrecked ship spiraling towards us!"

"Hey!" said Parsons. "Are you playing games on us or something, Aliscea? That's silly!"

"Shut up and keep your eyes on your scope, _Parsons!_" barked Venture. "Trust the woman! She just kept us from going insane a while ago! Engines, back one quarter! Fifty degrees port!"

The _Argo_ slowed down as Nova looked at her scope and gulped, noticing that the enemy fleet seemed to be regrouping and coming back up their butt, firing as they went.

The ship began to change course a second later as nothing seemed to appear on the video panel. Suddenly, out of the dust and smaller asteroids, a massive grey hulk emerged, spinning crazily towards the _Argo_.

On the bridge, a moment later, Nova grinned as she noticed something on her scope. "Derek!" she said brightly. "In another two megameters, the asteroid field thins out! I think we're up and over the upper ecliptic edge! And we left those guys floundering around in there looking for us! _Great!_"

"I think there could be gaseous matter here hiding more scattered metallic asteroids: if that's the case, your scope might not pick them up," said Wildstar. "Nova, could you scan the area for magnetic flux? We can find the metallic stuff that way, you know."

"Gotcha! Scanning," said Nova as they sat tensely for a moment while Parsons called out the range of the approaching enemy fleet. After a moment, she said, "No magnetic flux readings, and I don't read that gas cloud, either. But we're still coming out of it. Just a few more scattered asteroids."

"That means we're free and clear!" said Parsons.

"No more impressions for the moment," said Aliscea.

"Except for the enemy" said Sandor in a low voice. "How many of them were left?"

"At my last count: at least fifty ships," said Nova. "And they're still behind us somewhere in the deep part of the asteroid field."

"Wildstar," said Sandor, "I have damage control teams deployed, but they're spread out all over the ship. If we take any more severe hits, it could cripple our effectiveness. Our rate of fire has already slowed down because one of the hits we took damaged the wiring trunk to the guns and Royster had to re-route the controls so Rosstowski could work."

"So we have to get rid of those fools soon," said Wildstar.

"They're back!" cried Nova. "Range, five megameters off the port stern! Speed, twenty-three space knots! They're boiling up out of that asteroid field like hot water. Not _again!_"

A moment later, more beams flew past the _Argo_ and the aft turret barked out in reply, taking out three enemy ships. "Nova! How long until we clear that field?"

"Ninety more seconds! The enemy has regrouped again: they're now three megameters abaft; and their speed is picking up."

"We're damaged badly," said Sandor. "We can't take much more of this," he said.

Derek looked up, and Yamazaki, who had taken Orion's post, just nodded in reply. "He's right, sir. We just barely got the auxiliary engines up on line again. You can thank Parmon and Henson for that. Those two finally worked like a team."

"Venture, prepare for a short warp in ninety seconds. Take us straight out towards GQ-423," said Derek.

"How far?" he asked as he began to lay in the course.

"About...say...thirteen megameters should do it. Then, when we come out of warp, turn about one hundred and eighty degrees and wait."

"Wait?" mused Venture as something occurred to him. "You mean?"

Wildstar just smiled an evil grin as he said, "Mister Dash, I hope you're in a mood for some sharpshooting today. We've got to pay those guys back for the people they killed."

"Aye, _aye_, sir," said Dash as he caught what he thought was on Wildstar's mind.

* * *

"Range to the _Argo_, twelve _girens_," said V'dal's combat officer aboard the _Er'vartz_ as the impressive Rikashan space battleship and the rest of its squadron cruised through the edge of the asteroid field. "They've just come to a full stop. Should I smash them now, sir?"

"No," hissed V'dal. "We want them captured...or we want to at least tell the Baron we made an attempt. So, hold your fire until the whole task group has regrouped and is in range, destroyers included. Then, we hit them with everything we have. If they don't surrender or get a religious fear of the Great Warbringer and run, we board them. If we can't get close enough to board, because they're still fighting on, we just keep on shooting until we can board them or they explode accidentally. I hope we can board them."

"Why?" said the helmsman. "Is not destroying them more spectacular?"

"No. The thought of those two blond Terran women and that alien woman on that bridge is making me drool," hissed V'dal. "First I want the dark blonde in the tight yellow suit, then the younger-looking light blonde with the ponytail. I claim first plunder rights on them both! And we'll make their Captain watch the spectacle!"

"Sir," said the comm officer. "I must report this to the Baron when we're through. I fear such actions will get us in trouble, and are too sick even for the likes of..."

At that, the officer fell out of his chair with a scream as V'dal unholstered his personal sidearm and expertly shot his brains out right there on the bridge. "Who asked _you?_" he sneered. "Velmetz! Relieve him!"

"Uhh...yessir" said another officer as he tossed the corpse aside.

"Now...we wait...so we can report the good news to Cha'rif"

* * *

"eleven..." said Venture as the engine's output was directed to the warp mechanism. "_Ten...nine...eight...seven.._"

Now, we'll go on a nice...short...quick ride, thought Wildstar.

"..._three...two...one,_" said Venture as the dimensional scanners bleeped down the spatial graph line. "_ZERO!"_

"_Warp!"_ barked Wildstar.

"WARP!" repeated Venture as he pulled on his control lever. As usual, everything distorted around the bridge crew as the _Argo_ blurred and dissolved into hyperspace.

repeated Venture as he pulled on his control lever. As usual, everything distorted around the bridge crew as the blurred and dissolved into hyperspace.

* * *

"_Admiral!_" screamed the _Er'vartz's_ radar chief. "The _Argo_ just executed a warp!"

"_ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha...haaaa..._" roared V'dal like a madman. "They've decided to run home so they can hide their women! The Star Force has gone back home to hide under its mother's robe! The Gamilons couldn't defeat _that_? They're idiots! They're piles of _dan'khed_ drying in the Great Desert! Mother of all battles and they've run! They've _run!_ Wildstar, you are a fool! Communications! Begin reporting our victory to Baron Cha'rif!"

"Belay that!" screamed the radar chief. "They're back! Range, eighteen _gerad!_ They've just stopped, too!"

"Maybe they're going to call me with the terms of their surrender," hissed V'dal as he rubbed his palms like a dope fiend. "Yess...I can taste my victory," he said, not wanting to say what sort of taste was on his warped old mind at the moment. "YOU!" he yelled to the comm officer he had commissioned to replace the one he had just killed. "Have you yet called up the _B'eoneraze?_ I want to talk to our Sublime Baron."

"Yes, sir. With pleasure!" he said. "Correct my orders. Have Task Group twelve harass them while I call Cha'rif. Get them to give the _Argo_ a hard time, would you?"

Not far away, two cruisers and four destroyers roared up towards the _Argo_, getting a bead on her. They fired.

* * *

"Enemy squadron approaching!" cried Nova. "Range, fifteen megameters!"

"Dash, prepare main guns."

"Yessir, preparing guns...and missiles...ready to fire..."

"Quick!" cried Aliscea. "They're firing!"

They fired again, and part of Dash's board erupted under him in an electrical lightning storm. "No! NO!" he yelled.

He was thrown back from his console as his board sparked. Sandor and Nova were over in a moment, followed by Wildstar. Sandor, to check the board. Nova, to check on Dash.

"He has a concussion, Derek!" she cried as she and Sane bent over the unconscious man while Derek jumped over Sane's leg and almost fell into his wife's lap.

"Get him out of the way...we're still in battle," said Derek. Nova nodded while Derek threw himself behind the board. He and Sandor checked the Combat console with which Derek was so familiar.

"Gunnery central fire control's out," said Sandor.

"We can still use missiles," said Derek. "Bow torpedoes, ready to fire! Target; enemy task force! FIRE!"

The missiles took care of the nearest ships in a ball of flame. Nova sat back down and said, "They're still coming, but we got their vanguard."

"Good," said Derek with an evil grin. "Doctor Sane, is Dash okay?"

"IQ-9 and I are getting him out of here now," he said.

"Now?" asked Venture as Wildstar sat studying the scene for a second.

Finally, Derek nodded. "Good spread. Now. Yamazaki. Stop: all engines!"

"Stop: all engines!" repeated the Engine Group Leader.

The whir of the wave engine abruptly stopped. Down below, Diane Henson grinned and said, "You guys had better get ready!"

"Why, ma'am?" said a chief.

"Our services are needed," she said with a smile.

* * *

"Engines stopped," said Yamazaki.

"Nova: Range!" cried Derek.

"Twelve megameters: and they're advancing again! They're coming at slow speed."

"Nice," said Wildstar. "Okay...Yamazaki."

"Yes, sir?" he said over the silence.

"Open the circuit to the _wave-motion gun!_"

"Aye, aye, sir! Opening the circuit!"

Yamazaki flicked a few switches.

"Remove safety lock!" said Wildstar.

Down below, the locking pins slid out of the wave gun's safety lock.

As the orders sounded over the speakers, Henson said, "_SEE? I knew he'd do something! Get off your butts, everyone!_"

"Reset ignition point!" called out Yamazaki over the intercom. "Open main cylinder valve!"

"Cylinder valve, OPEN!" barked Diane. At that, the engine began to hum ominously as the low, deadly hum began to slowly build up in the low, throbbing pulse that had meant _Finis_ for so many of the other enemies the Star Force had met in the past seven years.

Boy, that noise sounds weird, thought Aliscea. as she strained to hear the low, thrumming noise that was creeping up through the framework of the ship itself.

"Energy charge 70!" said Yamazaki. "Now at seventy-five percent!"

Outside, a glow began to appear within the wave gun, glowing brighter as the magnetic field that protected the gun barrel increased in strength as the tachyon energy buildup continued within the ship.

* * *

"So, you have them, Baron?" said Baron Anton Cha'rif from the _B'eoneraze_ as V'dal looked at his main screen.

"Yes," said V'dal. "They're cornered. Cornered like little rodents in their desert hidey-holes!" At that, V'dal laughed uproariously.

"What are they doing?" hissed Cha'rif.

"They've warped away, but we've...they're sitting there...and we've got them in our sights. When every ship is in range, we attack!"

"Are you sure about that?" hissed Cha'rif. "If I were you, I'd launch fighter-bombers, and be sure the cornered beast is truly crippled before you move in."

"Let me see" mused V'dal. "How long until we're in range?"

"Less than one minute, if you're curious," said the combat officer, who was nice and relaxed as a bare-chested slave boy was ordered up to hand out victory wineskins from a big basket. Someone had turned on a sound system, and weird Rikashan music that sounded like a cross between ancient Terran Gypsy music and Arabic laments resounded across the bridge. Some mechanical officer had gotten out a tambour and was banging it against his leg as some enlisted crewman got on the intercom with a gong and began to sing to the victory music with strange, hoarse, moaning cries.

"You see? We have them!" said V'dal. "You can hear the celebration starting, I take it?"

"I would be more cautious," said Cha'rif. "Those Gamilon traitors we captured told us they have weapons that match or exceed our own. I understand they have a wave-motion gun. Have you considered _that?_"

"What's that bright light out there?" called out a crewman. "The one that keeps on getting brighter and brighter around their bow?" he asked.

Cha'rif took a deep breath. "V'dal, that light is your cremation pyre. I wish I could help you, but I can't! Well, no need to slaughter you now...I wager it'll happen of its own accord, _Idiot! "_

At that, Cha'rif cut off. "They...they can't be firing now..." said V'dal until he almost dropped his wineskin. "Wait. Cha'rif told us...they had a..._V'digash!_" he screamed. "All ships, prepare to free warp! It's our only chance!"

"Target scope, OPEN!" said Derek as the big HUD display scope popped up. Luckily, the scope and controls were undamaged. "Set to brightness level 12! Target, enemy fleet dead ahead, range, ten point oh-oh-two megameters!"

"Energy charge, now at ninety percent!" said Yamazaki as the mighty pulse grew louder and higher until the _Argo's_ engine was actually howling. "Energy charge, one-hundred and twenty percent!"

"Enemy fleet well in range," said Nova.

"All hands, don safety goggles," said Wildstar as the bridge crew pulled down their flash protection goggles in unison. "Ten seconds to firing! Prepare for recoil shock!" he said to both the bridge crew and the rest of the ship over the intercom.

* * *

On the _Er'vartz, _the drunken party had ended. Screams and cries ran through the ship as crewmen screamed out their final prayers on their faces on the deck to a Warbringer who watched the spectacle on his Dark Throne with a slightly nauseous feeling running through his being.

"So," said Ekogaru. "This is how they deal with their enemies. Fast. Vicious! Damn you, Cha'rif, why aren't you helping your stinking comrades? We have Aliscea in our grasp to take or kill! And you're letting the victory be thrown away?"

* * *

"Ten...nine..._eight...seven..._" counted down Derek as his hand tensed on the familiar firing pistol. "_six...five...four...three...two...one... ZERO! _FIRE!" he barked a moment later. Then, Derek smiled a tight smile and pulled back on the trigger.

The flashing, scintillating glow at the _Argo's_ wave gun firing muzzle disappeared, overshadowed by a terrible blue-white light that looked like something left over from the day of Creation itself. The bright light turned into a blue-white beam that surged towards the Rikashan fleet like a raging comet as two of the fleet's cruisers warped out in a flash of light that did horrible things to the fabric of hyperspace as the two ships swirled off crazily in separate directions.

Those two ships were the only ones to escape out of ninety. As the _Er'vartz_ began to warp out, the beam hit her head on, ripping V'dal's skin and flesh painfully off his bones. Then, the tachyons finished their work and finished ripping his bones and his drunken brain into sub-atomic sludge that glittered a little before dispersing along with the rest of the once-mighty Rikashan space battleship. The lack of D'IATS cannon in ships of that class had never been more telling than this moment; but of course, the Bolar Federation, Rikasha's most recent primary foe up until now, had never possessed such devices in mass numbers, so not all Rikashan ships had their Empire's surge cannon.

A millisecond later, the _Er'vartz's_ lack of a surge cannon didn't matter: because there was no longer an _Er'vartz. _And, less than a blink of an eye later, the cruiser and escort crews couldn't complain either because they were all dead, along with the rest of their ships, gongs, wine, and slaves.

With no more fleet left, the _Argo's_ wave gun beam roared on, diffusing and finally spending the last of its energy on the far remnants of the asteroid field in a distant pretty lightshow that made Aliscea smile as she finally realized the great light had faded to a safe level, and pulled off her goggles.

"It's so pretty," she said with a smile.

"It's a deadly beauty," sighed Nova. "A lot of people die every time we hit one of those fleets. I don't even like seeing the enemy go that way, even though there are times...when we have to do it."

Around her, the bridge crew was cheering. Venture got up, grabbed Derek's hands, and said, "Great shooting, Wildstar!" "Oh...you're most welcome!" he said.

Then, Nova threw her arms around her husband, squeezed him tight, and said, "_Great_ strategy, Derek! Good shooting, too. You've still got it!"

"You played your part, _too_," he said. "All of you did...especially Miss Rosstowski. Aliscea...shall we say...your _insight_ was a real help?" grinned Wildstar as he winked at her.

"Oh, thank you!" she cried.

As everyone cheered, Wildstar said, "_Attention...all hands. The battle is over. We've won a great victory, but we still have a job to do._ _All hands...resume normal work routines after our next warp. Concentrate on damage control and repair. Tiger squadrons two and four, launch and commence your usual patrols...we still don't know what's out there. That will be all. Thank you for your attention and for doing a great job today!"_

"When do we warp again?" said Venture.

"Ten minutes," said Derek. "Aliscea, that Cha'rif is still out there, isn't he?"

She nodded grimly. "Yes...he is. I feel him. He's enraged."

"Then we've got no time to waste. Venture...Yamazaki...get us out of here in five," he said. "Lay in a course for Beemira, Mark. Twenty-one thousand lightyears. Get us ready for a big one."

"Roger," he said grimly.

"Engine room," said Yamazaki. "I know the Chief's dead, but we have no time to mourn now. Later on, we'll get together and remember Orion. We need to work now. Get us ready for a space warp."

"Roger," said Diane Henson as she wiped grease and tears off her face. "Okay, you people! Move your butts again! We need power, and we need it fast!"

* * *

"Warp preparations completed," said Venture as sweat ran down his brow. "Course laid in for Beemira."

"Energy level, ninety percent!" said Yamazaki.

"Prepare to warp in one minute," said Venture.

Beside him, Derek Wildstar locked his harness. Just like old times, he thought. "Aliscea," he asked, noticing the young woman beside him struggling a little. "You're all right?'

"I've...got it," she said.

"I'm in," said Sandor as Nova helped him buckle up, mindful of the fact that he had only one arm for the moment.

"Me too," said Parsons.

Homer and Yamazaki locked in a moment later, and Nova was the last one to get ready. She was just catching her breath as she looked at her scope. "Two objects approaching. Range, twelve megameters, speed, twenty-three space knots. Image to main video panel!"

The crew looked up. "Not more of them!" said Wildstar. "And we can't fight! Our energy's in the engine for the warp."

"Should we abort?" asked Sandor.

"Forty-five seconds to warp," said Venture.

Derek shook his head. "Hold on...it looks like those cruisers are just locking on! We might just make it!"

"Thirty seconds," said Venture. "Approaching warp-out point!"

"Range, ten megameters!" said Nova.

"Ten seconds!" said Mark. "Nine..." he counted down as his fist clenched around the appropriate lever. "...seven...six...five...four...three.."

On one of the enemy cruisers, the blond-haired Rikashan Captain smiled and said, "All guns...FIRE!"

"two..." said Venture, ignoring the green bolts that roared in. In the distance, they could see the rest of Cha'rif's fleet, over two hundred ships, warping in. "...one...zero...WARP!"

Venture pulled back the lever and warped the ship just as the energy bolts hit. The bursts of fire seemed strangely muffled, as if they had come through cotton wool. A few of Venture's instruments twitched, but there was no other effect upon the _Argo_ as she warped out.

In hyperspace, the passage was fairly normal...if the weirdness of hyperspace can be considered normal, that is.

Derek looked up. "Well...we're here," he said. Then, he did a double-take as he looked at the planet. "Hey!" he said. "That's not Beemira! Beemira is a blue and green planet like Earth! That looks like some kind of desert world! Venture, where the _heck _are we?"

Mark looked at the astro-compass and then looked at his sensors. "We took a hit right as we were warping out. We just went another ten thousand light-years more than we were supposed to go. The hit must have affected our engine."

"So where'd we go?" asked Wildstar.

"We went off ten thousand more lightyears in a parabola off towards the Small Magellenic Cloud into unexplored space past the little cluster we mapped in the area around NGC-56121," said Venture. "I have no idea what star that is...nor what planet that is."

"Strange," said Nova as she took a scan. "Derek, this is a very weird place! For some reason, wave upon wave of hyperspatial energy and waves of time-space displacement all come together around that planet. It's like some kind of locus or junction of some type!"

"Are we still in our own time and space?" asked Derek with a lump in his throat.

Nova and Sandor looked at the scope together; Steve had gotten up because he was curious at Nova's discovery. "We are," said Nova. "And we're also in about ten other time streams at the same time. And possibly in five other universes at once...all simultaneously? What kind of place is _this?_"

"Is her scope working right, Sandor?"

"Unfortunately, it is, Wildstar."

"Wildstar! I'm getting a message; audio-only!" said Homer. "She wants to talk to us...but...it's weird. Switch to main speakers?"

"Derek, be careful," said Aliscea. "I sense something very weird about that woman. Something even I can't figure out."

"What is it? Is she dangerous?" said Wildstar.

"Yes. And no. And she has been to the end of time and back. Perhaps she is..."

"Who?" said Derek.

"She has many names, if she is whom I am thinking of," said Aliscea with her eyes closed. "You are about to speak to the strangest woman in the known Universe."

"What the...?" muttered Derek.

A low, authoritative feminine voice suddenly came over the _Argo's_ speakers. "Welcome, _Yamato_. I was expecting you."

"_Yamato_?" murmured Wildstar. "Whomever you are, this ship isn't called the _Yamato _anymore. I mean...uh...she was for a brief time...as a space battleship, but Captain Avatar renamed her the _Argo_. Who are you and what do you want of us?"

"I have been through time and back," said the mysterious woman. "I am in space but one with it. I travel through space and time forever. You are at a focal point in your mission, Captain Wildstar. Or, is the clan name really Kodai? I called your great ship _Yamato_ because she has been known and will be known to me always as _Yamato_. Long ago in my youth on Larmetal I learned of your ship. I hoped I would meet with her someday in her youth. It is an honor to meet with you as you were in your youngest days, Captain. Great to meet with _Yamato_ as her _kami _is still young and burns with love and brightness. As do all of you. I must leave you soon. I have arranged a meeting between you and two men and a woman who can help you regain your bearings and help you leave this planet, Heavy Melder, safely. Two of these men have existed together throughout history, meeting here and again, again and anon. They are together again, the shorter with the woman he loves. When you come here, Captain Wildstar, you and Nova must come together in civilian clothing. You will come to a small population center called Gun Frontier in the southern hemisphere of this planet, like a Western American town of ancient times. There, seek out Harlock, Tochiro, and Emeraldas. They will help you on your way out of this unexplored space, and help you with important information."

Wildstar was puzzled. "Who are you? You know about us, but what is your name? Can we trust you?"

"If you are stopped in your mission, Ekogaru's Empire shall become the Mechanized Empire, worse and more virulent even than it is in my time. They shall take the whole universe with their weapons. As for me, my name is..."

They heard a strange, high-pitched voice saying, "Come on! We don't have much time! The train is due to leave!"

Nova's ears went up as she heard something that sounded like an ancient steam train whistle in the background.

Then, the woman said, "My name is Maetel. I travel forever on Three-Nine. I must leave you now. The best of luck to you, Captain Wildstar."

"Thank you," said Wildstar as the transmission cut off. He and the rest of the bridge crew looked at each other with mystified eyes. "Aliscea, can we trust her?"

"As much as you can trust me," said Aliscea enigmatically. "Strange woman. I heard her in a different sense and a different voice than any one of you mortals. She can be trusted. Now, come on, Derek and Nova. I think you have an appointment?"

Derek and Nova looked at each other with mystified looks as Aliscea left. Finally, Nova said. "Uhh...I'll scan the planet. See what I can find at the Southern Hemisphere, and see what the climate's like."

"Good idea," said Derek. "Strange...I heard of a Harlock somewhere, but I can't remember where. I read about him in a history book someplace...I think. Something about him being a pilot...something about the Owen Stanley Mountains..."

"You want me to take command, I take it?" said Venture.

"Yes," said Derek. "It shouldn't take us too long down there. We'll keep in touch."

"So you're going?" said Sandor.

"Do we have a choice?" said Derek. "Aliscea said we should. Maetel...or whatever her name is...said we should. Nova, you can find me in our quarters."

And, on that note, Derek left.

* * *

****

TO BE CONTINUED WITH ACT FIVE--"UNDER THE SKULL AND CROSSBONES"

* * *

****

THERE ARE NOW 99 DAYS TO THE ARRIVAL OF EKOGARU IN EARTH'S SOLAR SYSTEM

* * *


	5. Chapter 5

* * *

**ALTERNATE TALES OF THE STAR FORCE**

**STAR BLAZERS---****RETURN TO THE GREAT MAGELLENIC CLOUD**

**Being the seventh part of THE RIKASHA INCIDENT--- BY: Frederick P. Kopetz**

* * *

**ACT FIVE--UNDER THE SKULL AND CROSSBONES**

**Star Blazers and Space Battleship Yamato is (c) 2002 by Voyager Entertainment and Leiji Matsumoto.**

**Some themes and characters from some of Leiji Matsumoto's other works appear herein, as well. The manga in question was (c) 1998 by Leiji Matsumoto and VIZ Media. No infringement is intended; the references in question are intended as a tribute to Matsumoto-_sensei's_ great inspiration and wonderfully varied universe.**

* * *

**I. PROBING THE ETERNAL NIGHT**

**Planet Heavy Melder**

**About 60,000 lightyears away from Earth**

**Space Battleship _Argo_**

**Captain's Cabin**

**Wednesday February 17, 2202**

**1650 Hours Spacetime**

* * *

Captain Derek Wildstar stood looking at scans made by Living Group as the hatch to his cabin opened.

In strode Nova in her gold and black uniform, carrying a small bundle over one arm. Then, he heard the privacy screen being activated. It was closing, shutting out the starlight.

"Did you see the information that IQ-9 and I sent up?" asked Nova as Derek heard a vac-seal being opened after the privacy shield was closed.

"I did. Twenty-three degrees centigrade down there. Dry and hot, and pretty sunny in the area we're flying to."

"Just like Arizona," sighed Nova. Derek turned around, and did a slight double-take when he saw that Nova was in the middle of stripping her uniform and bra off.

"Nova, how much is coming off?"

"Everything," she said cheerfully. "Luckily, Holly loaned me some appropriate clothes for the climate and planet. Just about all of my civilian things are either too dressy or too noticeable. As Derek watched with a healthy amount of interest, Nova continued to strip until she had nothing else left to take off. "Mmmmm, feels good to get _out_ of that uniform for a bit." she said as she stood on tiptoe and stretched. "I wish we were back on our honeymoon island, Derek. I could do with a swim and sun bath like this right about now."

"So could I."

She smiled affectionately at him. "Want to help me get dressed, then, _koishii_?"

"Why dress perfection?" he said in a low voice as he ran up to his wife and hugged her.

"Derek, the crew has to see me leave the ship. They fantasize about me enough with my clothes on, I bet. Imagine what'd happen if about a hundred guys saw me running into the flight deck naked."

"There'd be a riot, Nova. And a lot of cameras going off. You show so much in your tight little yellow shipsuit anyway."

"And it drives you nuts, doesn't it?"

Derek nodded.

"I like the way your pants fit your tush," said Nova sweetly. "God, _you_ make me wild at times."

"You know, if we don't get you dressed, we're gonna be running awfully late."

"What's wrong with that?" said Nova in a teasing voice as she hugged him with her arms and legs for a minute.

"Hey, you're making me into a coat rack!" laughed Derek.

"I like coat racks," purred Nova. "We need a nice one for the house."

"So you can hang on it just like that? Good. I'll make sure we have print paper for the digital camera, _tenshi…_"

Nova playfully slapped his cheek. "Derek! You're lewd and crude at times."

"Well, consider that you're not dressed like a nun right now either..."

They both laughed at that. "Are you gonna help me get dressed, or do you want me to stay attached to you all day like a limpet mine, Derek?"

"That's a hard question," laughed Captain Wildstar.

Nova then lifted her bodysuit off the floor with her toes. "You start with this."

"How do you do that?"

"Comes from a trick I used to do to drive my mother crazy when I was seven," said Nova. "We had a piano. I had to take lessons. Sometimes, I liked to drive Mom bats by playing _Chopsticks _with my toes. I got paddled for that once, too."

"When?"

"When I did it in front of my teacher. She was something of a mean old bat. What's the worst thing you ever did as a kid, Derek?"

"Sold part of Alex's baseball card collection to pay for candy when Dad cut off my allowance. I had some familiarity with the paddle, too."

"Derek, when we have kids, we won't use the paddle."

"Then how are we going to spank them when they're naughty?"

"When we have to spank them, which I hope we won't have to do often, because there are psychological tricks I know of that work better than spanking, we'll use our hands. Agreed?"

"Agreed," said Derek. "And how would we feed the babies? It's hard to carry a bottle around."

Nova blushed. "I was planning on taking extended leave or even going Reserve for a year or two when we finally have kids so I can be with them more often. Maybe we can do it when I get into medical school and just have to go to class and do the homework while on Reserve status like my dad did for law school when he was a Defense Forces officer. As for feeding the kids...well...you're looking right at what I'd use for the first six months, Derek."

"What?"

Nova jumped down onto her feet, grabbed up her bodysuit, and smiled. "The nutrition is best if it comes right from Mom during at least the first six months. Our baby or babies would be weaned around then and put on formula and baby food gradually, of course. It was a little weird that I was an only child, Derek."

"Why?" he asked as she stepped into her black leotard.

"Twins or triplets tend to run in my family for the first birth," she said. "Mom wasn't sickly, but she wasn't in top physical condition when she had me, either. It was when she and dad were very young. Dad was in law school and Mom was still an undergraduate, and they were a little poor then, believe it or not. At least we'll have some money, and I will, Lord willing, stay in fairly good physical shape until then."

She had dressed in her bodysuit and was reaching for her jeans. "Nova, you're not exactly as strong as Raiden or Hemsford by any means, but what you _do_ have in that slender little bod is in great shape. Hell, you were rappelling better than I was at that obstacle course back when we were doing that refresher training in Quantico."

Nova blushed a little again. She remembered that obstacle course pretty well. She had impressed quite a few women and even some hardened Space Marines with her speed and agility in the course...with a full pack and AK-01 on her back. "Kind of fun, really. Especially that monkey walk."

"You _liked_ that?" said Derek. "Damnit, I thought I was gonna fall off that thing into the lake! I don't like being up on nothing but a rope over a high place."

They were referring to a nasty obstacle with three ropes that went over a lake at Quantico. It was like a tightrope climb one had to execute in combat boots on one's back.

"Doesn't bother me, I'm not afraid of heights." said Nova as she tried to pull on her jeans. "Oh, Holly gave me a tight pair. Gonna have to lay down on the bunk to do this."

"Gotta put it down first."

"I've got it," said Nova. She undid the lock and dropped the bed (while standing there with her jeans half-on). She then flopped down on her back on the bed, threw her legs and bottom up in the air, and was busy pulling on her pants when the hatch opened.

"VENTURE!" yelled Derek. "Don't you and Parsons believe in _knocking_?"

"Ooops," said Mark when he saw what was going on.

"It's all right," said Nova. "I'm really decent, believe it or not. Holly, these jeans you gave me are kinda tight!"

Parsons looked back in first. "Oh. I see. They're like that when I put them on, too. Yes, definitely tight. Mark, come back in...she's got a bodysuit on, so you're not seeing anything."

Venture looked in, just in enough time to see Nova zipping her fly up. He still felt a little uncomfortable seeing just _that_ much. After all, it not every day that a man happens to see his best friend's wife getting dressed. "Her pants are really tight, gotta suck in when I close these up."

"Can you wear those?" asked Holly.

"They're stretching on me; it's okay, Holly."

"Does she always get dressed in front of people?" asked Venture with a smile.

"Not unless they're real close friends," said Derek, remembering how Nova had shocked him once, when on the first mission against the Comet Empire, she had decided to swim home to Earth to obey a stupid order of his that she get off the ship immediately. Nova had complied, to the point of beginning to strip off her nurse's uniform in front of him. He was grateful, though, that they hadn't popped in five minutes ago; and also doubted that Nova would have been so cool about it if Venture and Parsons had seen the way she had been dressed (or, rather, not dressed) when they had been having their private talk. "Nova, what should I do if he ever does that again?"

"Dunno. Make him help zip up my dress to teach him a lesson?" said Nova with a wink. At that, Mark blushed.

"Are you trying to steal my boyfriend, Nova?"

"In front of my husband, Holly?" giggled Nova. "Not likely. The three of us always talk like this. Since I was the only woman on the ship's last mission, things got a bit crazy then. I've got a few funny stories to tell about _that_ cruise."

"Well, can I join up with the three of you?" asked Holly.

"Hey, Derek, should we let her into the Musketeers?" asked Venture.

"Musketeers?" huffed Holly. "Weren't there just three of them?"

"Later on, there were four," said Derek. "Yeah. Let's let her in."

"Only if she stops calling me a nerd," said Nova as she looked through her locker for something.

Derek looked in there. "Nova! What'd you do to your locker?"

"I've been a bit disorganized the past few days," she said as she tossed shoes, socks, and even underwear out into a messy pile. "One pair of high heels, a compact, the new yellow toe socks I haven't worn yet, my space helmet, guitar strings..."

"Nova, if we held inspection right now, you'd flunk," smiled Derek.

"Sorry, Derek," she said in a tiny voice.

"If you want help organizing this girly disaster area, I'll come up here later on," said Holly.

"Great!" said Nova. "Thanks, Holly. Ah! Got my purse and shoes."

"Purse?" said Venture.

"We were asked to go down to the planet as civilians," said Derek. He undid his peacoat and ascot and shrugged the black bridge coat off. "Hey, Nova, what kind of t-shirts are in my locker?"

"You've got that white golf shirt I sent you last year," said Nova while she began to throw various articles of clothing back into her locker and also tossed things into her laundry hamper. She finally closed the locker up as things crashed around inside.

"Boy, we are close," said Venture as he picked up a pink sock. "Nova, never thought I'd be helping you pick up your dirty laundry."

"Sorry, Mark. I've been a ditz the past few days."

"Hey, what are friends for?" said Mark. "When did you get that golf shirt from her, Derek? After the honeymoon?"

"No, that year-long patrol cruise we were on with the _Argo_ as the flagship," said Derek. "Nova was sending me letters, pictures, tapes of herself singing with her guitar or on a piano at the rec center, clothes, books, and care packages of her cookies and pepperoni every few weeks, and that was apart from the regular e-mail that was always in my inbox." Derek smiled at the memory. _Every_ mail call, there was _always_ something from his then-girlfriend, even if only a romantic perfume-scented letter. Homer had teased him to no end about his regular swag every mail call.

"Here's your shirt," said Nova as she tossed him a white golf shirt. "You can put on the pants I'm getting you after these _guests _leave."

"Which we'd better do soon," said Holly. "Mark, you tell them what you were gonna tell them."

"Oh, yeah," said Venture. "Wildstar, we picked up a communication signal. It was from some fellow named Harlock."

"Oh. Maetel spoke of him in her message," said Derek as he pulled off his Star Force uniform shirt and began to change his shirt. Holly caught a glimpse of his bare chest and whistled. At that, _he_ blushed. "Uh...what'd he want?"

"He said he'll be waiting for you at a place called the Red Dog Saloon later this evening before sundown. I wonder what he wants?"

Nova shrugged as she kicked into her sandals. "You know as much as I do. Have to re-buckle these, darn it. The leatherette is stretching out."

"Cute shoes," said Holly. "Can I borrow them sometime?"

"Guess so, if you let me borrow those brown boots of yours. They'd go nice with my pink dress."

"Deal." Then, Holly looked up. "Nova and I routinely root through each other's lockers. The two of us and her friend Natalie Fisher are always borrowing stuff from each other."

"Mostly junk," said Nova. "Well, don't _you_ guys borrow stuff from each other?"

"Yeah, I borrowed his cologne the other day," said Venture.

"Mark, give it back," teased Derek.

"Or what?" said Mark.

"Or I may have to kick your butt...right here and now in front of your girlfriend," said Derek.

"I'll have to kick _your rear_ in front of your wife," responded Venture. Not far away, Holly smiled with amusement, while one of Nova's eyebrows went up in amusement. A mischievous sprite-like idea (one of those she got every now and then) suddenly hit her. So, Nova got out her guitar, put it on, and began to play a Spanish-guitar riff on it.

"Nova, what are you doing _that_ for?" asked Derek.

"Derek, if you guys are gonna fight, we need the right music for it. I'll patch you guys up after you're both half-unconscious. You're both utterly silly…as usual."

"Yeah, let's drop it, Derek," said Venture. "She's got a point. Hey, Holly?"

"Yes?"

"Uh...What would you do if I asked you to marry me?"

The room went quiet. "Excuse me?" asked Holly.

"Uh...what would you do if I asked you to marry me?" said Mark with a hard swallow. "Silly question...sorta hypothetical...We've been hanging out with each other for only two months, I know it's crazy...I..."

"How's about if I accept?" said Holly in a soft voice as she plopped down on Derek and Nova's bunk. Venture looked at Holly with a look of utter shock on his face. He hadn't expected her to actually accept his proposal right now! At that, Derek and Nova stopped what they were doing and looked at each other in shock. "But, there's one thing, Mark?"

"Yeah?"

"You've got to do it the right way, stupid. Down on one knee." Holly smiled and grabbed Mark by the hand.

"Holly...are you sure?" asked Nova.

Parsons just nodded. Then, with the Wildstars not quite believing what they were hearing, Venture gulped and asked in a barely audible voice. "Okay...uhhh...Holly Parsons, would you marry me?"

"Yes," whispered Holly. At that, they hugged to Derek and Nova's sudden applause. Mark saw Nova whispering to Derek, and the Captain nodded. Then, Nova took off her guitar and stood removing her wedding band...and engagement ring of her own.

"You mind amethyst, Holly?" asked Nova. "Until he can get you a diamond, that is?"

Holly was hugging Mark. Holly sniffed through her tears and said, "Amethyst is fine, Nova."

"Mark, so she has a ring, you can borrow my engagement ring," said Nova as she put back on her wedding band and then handed her birthstone ring to Venture. "Make sure you give it back when you get her one yourself, Mark. Of course, my wedding band is the one I won't part with. I hope that some of the good luck Derek and I have comes to you two through the ring he bought me when we got home from fighting Zordar after he proposed to me."

"It should, thanks, Nova," said Mark. "God, you gave me that boutonnière when I went to see Trelaina that time, and now you're loaning me your engagement ring. Every guy should have a sister like you."

"If my mom and I ever get into a bad fight, can your parents adopt me?" teased Nova. She and Mark then laughed and hugged before Nova placed her ring in his hand. Then, Derek gave Mark a rough hug.

"This is as sudden as hell, but congratulations, Mark," said Derek in a husky voice. "You want me as best man...when the wedding comes off?"

"Yeah...I think so. But...uhh...I'm having a little trouble deciding whom I want as best man. Or...best person."

Derek's eyebrow went up. "Best person? What do you mean?"

"I...I don't know if I want...you, Derek...or you, Nova, to be my best man," said Venture as he put a hand on a very surprised Nova's shoulder. "You two are both my best friends. I can't decide. I know it's weird, but..."

"A girl can be best man," said Holly. "I've heard of it."

"What about both of us?" suggested Nova diplomatically while grabbing Derek's arm. "He and I would look adorable in matching tuxedoes, don't you think?"

"Hold that thought," said Mark. "But now...I've gotta do something..."

Mark took the ring, and then he put it on Holly in silence. Then, they hugged again, and shared...their first deep kiss. As they parted, Holly noticed he had enjoyed the kiss very much, and she just smiled at him with her eyes batted.

"I think we'd better go now," said Holly. "Mark...we have to celebrate this."

"After our watch, honey?"

"Oh, sure," said Holly. Holly winked at Nova and Derek and then left arm-in-arm with her brand-new fiancée.

"Well?" said Derek.

"You'd better finish getting changed, Derek," said Nova as she wiped tears out of her eyes. "We have to go."

"Crying?" said Derek as he dabbed at his eyes.

"Happy tears," said Nova. "Aren't you happy for Mark and Holly? Holly got a great guy and Mark...well...Mark's really rejoined the human race again."

"Yeah," said Derek. "I'm happy for them. What a story they'll have for their kids."

"Like the stories we'll have for ours," said Nova in a dreamy voice.

* * *

A while later, in the small forward flight bay near Mechanical Ops in the _Argo's_ keel, Captain Wildstar (dressed now in jeans, his golf shirt, and boots) stood by Nova near a jet recon boat that had been made up to look like dirty and grimy military surplus.

Sandor stood near them. "Luckily, in that message, that Harlock guy said they take old Earth Federation currency down there. With that, and this make-up job, you should fit in just fine if you land near these coordinates on the map."

Wildstar looked at the map, followed by Nova. "Not far from a mesa," he mused.

"The walk to town looks like it is just two klicks along this dry stream bed," said Nova. "We can easily manage that with enough water."

"It's packed," said Royster nervously. "And the scans say you'll be landing there around sunset, so it won't be so hot."

"Not bad," said Wildstar. "Well, Nova, let's shove off."

"Right," she said, jumping into the plane. "Who's flying?" she said. "You or me?"

"You do it," said Derek. "You need those flight hours."

"Aye, aye, sir," said Nova. She moved to the pilot's seat and began the preparations for takeoff as Derek got in.

"Purring like a kitten," said Derek.

"Yup. Feels funny flying without a helmet."

"Not far to the planet," said Sandor. "You should manage all right."

"Thanks," said Derek.

"See you guys later on with that information," said Nova. She closed up the cockpit, strapped in, and took off.

* * *

The flight and landing were quite easy and went without incident. Nova noticed they were being painted by radar, but some anonymous flight controller transmitting from a city in one of the arid planet's huge craters informed them that they were aware of their approach and that they had flight and landing clearance.

"Recreational boat," said the female controller. "You're clear to land at RPG-225 on the standard grid map. You'll be right near Gun Frontier. Guess you're on shore leave from your ship?"

"Uh...roger," said Nova, looking at Derek in hopes she wasn't giving away too much. "How'd you...?"

"Ships make port calls here at Heavy Melder all the time, miss. We don't care much what planet you come from or what you're up to as long as your ship doesn't attack any other ship docked on the planet. That's an absolute law that we don't break. Didn't your Captain brief you on this?"

Nova looked at Derek, who put up his hands and shrugged. _Weird_, he thought. _They're so laid back here_.

"Of course, you have to be sure you hit the right flight path out when your ship lifts anchor," said the controller. "Otherwise, you might end up in any one of a hundred time periods. Or hyperspaces. Or different realities. Just wanted to let you know."

"Thanks," said Nova into the mike. "My Captain and Navigator have this under control. I'm just coming down here with my husband for a night of shore leave and a good meal."

"Great. Just keep your eyes open. Gun Frontier doesn't have a lot of laws. And if you break the few they _do_ have, they'll hang you. Have a nice shore leave, miss."

"Okay, thanks," said Nova, trying to hide the fact that her hands were shaking. "Rec boat out."

"Hey," said Derek as he put his hand over Nova's while she put the microphone back on. "We've been through worse than this."

"Sorry. The fact that this place is so odd is just rattling me a little. And she said any ship that leaves there can end up in a hundred different places? This is a more tangled hyperspace locus than I thought. Do you think we should have come here, Derek?"

Wildstar sat with his eyes closed. "That woman Maetel told us it was important for us to come here. She seemed to know what we were up to. And she said this guy Harlock would help us. Funny...I did read about him."

"Explain?"

"I read one of Captain Avatar's old reference books before you started to distract me by getting changed before," smiled Derek. "In what I read, it said that the Harlock family was a line of famous explorers and pilots in the 20th and 21st centuries. A German pilot named Harlock navigated a path over the Owen Stanley Mountains in New Guinea right after World War I. Then, it recounted how a World War II Luftwaffe pilot named Harlock made a perilous escape out of Switzerland that no one else could have accomplished."

"What was he flying?"

"A Messerschmitt. You know…one of the old propeller-powered jobs with an internal-combustion engine?"

"Those must have been romantic planes to fly in, Derek. I'd love to fly a museum piece like that someday."

"A fighter?"

Nova nodded while making a course correction with her controls. "There were so many neat kinds in those old wars...the Spitfire, the Mustang, the Hellcat, the Zero, the Messerschmitt..."

"I remember reading that another Harlock flew one of those old helicopters in the Vietnam War, too. Then, a descendant of his flew in World War III."

"Unification Wars, Derek?"

He nodded. Nova then asked, "What kind of plane was it that he flew?"

"An F-575, one of the last nationally-developed planes. It was a mainstay of the United Nations forces."

"I heard those were hot."

"Flew one in a simulator once," said Derek. "Hey, when we get home, I can get you some simulator time at the Academy. You can fly an F-575...or one of those old prop planes you were talking about."

"Cool!" said Nova. "Now, let me think..." A light on her panel began beeping. "Two minutes to landing, Derek. Get yourself set for our arrival."

"Sounds good. Take us down easy."

"Won't be hard."

"Yeah. Hardly any wind to speak of," said Captain Wildstar as he looked at his instruments.

"Venture, this is Wildstar," said Derek over the radio.

"Yeah. How are you guys?'

"Fine. We're about to land. Nova's got us on a nice, easy glide path. We're landing right near a big mesa. Then, a quick walk, and we're in town. I'm sending you our location now for reference," said Derek as he turned on a locator beacon.

"Got it," said Venture. "Parsons has your beacon logged and noted. When do you think you'll be back?"

"Tomorrow morning, most likely. We have Federation notes as well as silver if that doesn't work."

"Derek, brace for landing," said Nova as she throttled down.

"Well, we're here now," said Captain Wildstar. "You guys have a good night. Keep watch for anything that might be hostile."

"Roger that," said Venture. "Good night, guys."

Nova grabbed the mike. "'Nite, Mark. Don't let the bedbugs bite."

"How does he put up with your jokes?" laughed Venture as Nova set the boat down on its thick-tired wheels.

"His are worse. Especially the knock-knock jokes."

"Oh, tell me about it," laughed Mark. "I know his whole repertoire. See you guys in the morning."

"How many knock-knock jokes do you know?" asked Nova as she began shutting down systems.

"Not sure. Lost count..."

* * *

A while later, they were walking together next to the dried stream bed they had seen on the map. The ground was red, sandy, and slightly rough but not impassable for either of them. Nova only had to stop once to get a stone out of a sandal.

"Maybe I should've borrowed Holly's sneakers, too," mused Nova. "Although these are great walking shoes when there's not lots of stones around. Stones! ICK! Give me a nice mountain stream in the Catskills, Rockies, or Japan Alps any day. I'd love to run around in khakis or a sundress, barefoot in the grass and mud, maybe even strip and run around like a sprite from _A Midsummer Night's Dream_ when I get deep enough in the woods so that no one could see me except you."

"Like you did on the last two days of our honeymoon on that island," said Derek. "And you told me all our things were in the wash."

"Well, they _were_," said Nova. She picked a good-sized flat stone up off the riverbed and examined it. "Pretty polished. Must have been lots of water here once. Wonder what made it go away?"

"War...natural disaster...or people just used up the place. Or maybe it was dry all along," said Derek. "What a bleak place. I wish we were back on the island." Derek stopped and gave Nova a very dreamy look. "You looked gorgeous on that island."

"Are you dreaming about me swinging on that vine in my skin?"

"Yeah. First time I ever saw a lady actually swinging on a vine like that."

"Thanks," said Nova. She stopped to throw her rock. "Hmmm...I see buildings in the distance, and some house with a fence around it. I wonder who lives there?"

"Some beautiful weirdo like you?"

Nova rolled up her eyes. "Okay, so I'm a weirdo now, huh? No...I'm a free spirit."

"You missed the beautiful part," said Captain Wildstar as they climbed over a rail fence.

"Sorry," said Nova as she grabbed Derek after they finished the climb. She hugged him and they shared a kiss.

A minute later, they both jumped back in fright as somebody fired an energy shot between them.

Thirty seconds later, Derek had his sidearm out of his holster, while Nova had gotten hers out of the large purse she carried.

"Stop necking on my land, you _stupid kids_!" yelled a woman's high voice.

A moment later, a woman with weird light blue hair in a hot pink minidress strode out, holding a blaster on them. She had two gunbelts, and her minidress had a good-sized cut-out at the shoulders and near the breasts. The dress was very short (shorter, as a matter of fact, than Nova's own EDF nurses' minidress) and the girl's long legs were quite bare. She wore very tight pink lace-up boots.

Nova (who looked rather mundane and girl-next-door at the moment compared to this flashy chick with the hard eyes) summed up the girl in one quick female thought. _You should talk; you're dressed like a tramp!_

"What's the problem?" said Derek. "We had no idea this was your land. The house looks abandoned!"

"Yeah. What tub did _you_ two come in off of? And why are you pointing guns at me? Got some bounty to collect?"

"Our business here is none of yours," said Nova. "My name's Nova. What's yours?"

"Give me your real name," sneered the girl. "The person you just described has been dead for something like seven hundred years."

"Well, I'm here. And this my husband, Derek."

"And I'm Minnie Mouse," sneered the woman. "Okay, I'll play along with your stupid charade," said the woman, guessing that the two people before her wouldn't put down their weapons, or back down at the sight of hers. At an opportune moment, she planned to put a knife in girlie's guts to teach _her_ a thing or two. "I'll give you my real name. I'm Sylvia. I'm a bounty hunter."

"Sylvia," said Derek. "Whatever we've done, we're sorry. Sorry we snuck onto your land. My _tenshi,_ Nova and I will be going in a minute."

"_Tenshi_?" sneered Sylvia. "Oh, you're calling her an _angel!_ You make me wanna throw up!"

"And you remind me of a sarcastic little devil," snorted Nova. "Derek…c'mon…!"

"Sylvia," said Captain Wildstar in a voice filled with warning. "I'm _watching_ you. Just to be sure you don't shoot us in the back when we leave!"

"Hmmm...might be fun," said Sylvia. "I should just kill you criminals and see if you're on the lam from someplace." She laughed with a high, nervous and sarcastic laugh. Derek began to make a fist, but Nova moved first. Saying "Hold this," as she handed her weapon to her surprised husband, Nova ran up to Sylvia, dodged her next shot, and swung a quick high kick against her blaster hand that the bounty hunter didn't even try to block. Nova immediately sized her up as being horrible at unarmed combat. The EDF Lieutenant then yelled and thrust an extended hand into Sylvia's solar plexus, knocking her to her knees like a duckpin.

Nova knelt and picked up Sylvia's weapon. She shoved it into her belt. "Okay, did I make _my_ point? That was for making fun of my husband and I!"

"Kill me," sobbed Sylvia. "You beat me and I'm _worthless_."

"Oh, grow _up_," said Nova. "I'm just taking your weapon and throwing it on the edge of your grounds. You can find it tomorrow morning at first light. I'd ask you to make tea after you catch your breath, but I'm afraid Derek and I don't like tea from self-righteous and deceitful little snakes like you! So, we'll say goodbye and get off your grounds. Remember, though, that we will not turn our backs to you."

Sylvia just snarled at them. She made an obscene gesture or two, and then ran off crying into her house.

"She's pretty flaky," said Derek.

"Coward," said Nova with a little grin. She spat on the ground. "And some people say _I _cry too much. I didn't even hit her that hard! It…it was a love tap!"

"Can't account for some people," said Derek with a shrug. "If that's the worst we're gonna face here, this little mission should be a piece of cake."

"I'd watch out for her, Derek. Something tells me she's a backstabber and a little sneak."

"Yeah. No honor," said Derek as they both climbed back over the rail fence. Nova stopped to tap the dead grass with a toe.

"Really dried out; and it's been here for a while. No wonder we thought it was abandoned. She needs to trim her lawn."

"Yeah," laughed Derek as he helped Nova straddle the rotting rail fence; not that she seemed to need any help, of course, since she was up and over the fence with the agility of a thirteen-year old kid climbing a tree.

* * *

A little later on, they were close to the town. Both Derek and Nova had paused under a tree. Nova had decided to climb the tree on the pretext of analyzing the alien fruit hanging on the branches.

Nova was looking at one of the fruits while Derek said, "Hey, Nova, knock, knock."

"Who's there?"

"Banana."

"Banana who?"

"Knock knock."

"Who's there?'

"Banana."

"Banana _who_?"

This went back and forth for five times while Nova looked at the fruit (it looked like a blue pear) concluded they shouldn't try to eat it without an analysis, and, instead, got some apple slices out of a plastic bag in her purse. "Derek, when's the punch line?" asked Nova.

"Coming up. Thanks for the apple."

"You're welcome."

"Knock knock..."

"Who's there?"

"Orange."

"Orange who?"

"Aren't ja glad I didn't say banana again?"

Nova grabbed at a light branch above Derek's head and lightly hit him with it. "That's your worst one! That's _stupid_!" she laughed.

"Hey, Nova. Ever heard the killer joke?'

"The killer joke," she said while leaning against the tree branch. She shinnied down the branch a little and noticed some very old rope tied around one of the branches. "Rope. I wonder what they use this tree for?"

"Maybe some kid put a rope ladder up there?" said Derek while munching around one of his wife's nutritious apple slices from the _Argo's_ hydroponic garden. He had always thought that Nova certainly knew how to grow fruit, and was somewhat aware of the genetic manipulation she had been obliged to pull off to make a dwarf apple tree that grew regular-size Macintoshes. He hoped that she and Sane never got the idea to create a killer bunny rabbit or something equally weird.

"Or...maybe...since this is a frontier town..."

"What?"

"I'm not I want to say, Derek. I'll...give you a veiled hint." She then began to whistle a few bars of Billie Holiday's _Strange Fruit, _a dark song from the early 20th century about lynchings when bigots commonly did such things to African-Americans for very little reason at all, or sometimes, for none at all.

"Yeah...gotcha," said Derek, catching the reference. "It's quite possible...someone was swinging from this..."

"Shh," said Nova. "Someone's coming."

Both of them quieted down and sat together on the branch while voices could be heard below.

"Who's the last one we strung up?" said a male with a very hard voice.

"Dunno," said a wheezy old voice. "I'm losin' my reputation as the Hangin' Judge. Nobody around to hang. Even those danged pirates ain't been causin' no trouble lately and no one has enough guts to collect on that bounty. Gun Frontier needs another good hangin', and soon."

"We don't have a lot of laws, Judge Butler. What could we hang someone for? Messing with the whiskey? Not likely; hasn't happened in six years since that young Harlock showed up. And he fixed everything. Messing with property? Not much except broken windows ever since Big Beef Angus had that rampage. After that, that's when they got rid of the old marshal and judge and got us. And have we ever been able to raise a posse to drive out the pirates? No. They're too popular around here. Too well-liked, unfortunately."

"Yeah. And we don't take no crap, Marshal. Now, what can we do to have some fun here?"

Both men laughed as they walked back towards town.

"We'd better watch our tails, Nova," whispered Derek. "Let's get in, get the information we need, and get out. Watch me. And if things get rough, you get out of there."

"No, Derek...I don't want to leave your side. Or leave you in danger." It was getting dark, and Derek noticed that her messy blond hair was hanging in one eye, and looked very, very light in the fading sunlight and light reflected from several moons up in the sky. Nova looked both attractive and sad in the dying light.

"Nova, we need someone to get back to the ship with the information. If I get into trouble, I'm expendable."

"But you're the Captain," whispered Nova. "If we have to, I'll create a diversion so you can get back to the ship. Don't worry about me; I can take care of myself."

"Nova, that's very cold-blooded. I couldn't leave you!"

"I couldn't leave you, either."

"We're in this together," said Derek. "Let's get down from here and get going."

* * *

**II. A NIGHT AT THE RED DOG SALOON**

**Planet Heavy Melder**

**About 60,000 lightyears away from Earth**

**Village**** of Gun**** Frontier**

**Red Dog Saloon**

**Wednesday February 17, 2202**

**1900 Hours Space time**

* * *

A hand-painted wooden sign in Japanese, English, and some unknown alien language told the whole story. In English the sign looked like this and read thus, and was still just about visible in the moonlight:

**WELCOME TO THE VILLAGE OF**

**GUN FRONTIER**

**POPULATION: 1,836**

**DISTURBING THE FREEDOMS OR DRINKS OF OTHERS**

**IS PUNISHABLE BY LAW**

**GOT IT, PILGRIM?**

"Somebody must think they're really funny," huffed Derek Wildstar as he looked at the sign.

"Gun Frontier," said Nova. "If we hadn't heard that Marshal and judge up in the tree, I'd think that sign sounds like the name of a theme park. I wonder where the desperadoes are, apart from that wanna-be in the pink dress we just met?"

"Look," said Derek.

They looked down the town's dusty main street. Two men in cowboy hats, linen shirts, spurs, boots, jeans, and vests that could have come out of Central Casting were standing in the middle of the street cursing at each other.

"Ah tell ya, Lee, this town ain't big enough for the two of us!" one of them yelled. He was standing on a plank sidewalk.

"So what ya gonna do about it, _jackass_?" said another one, a man with a beard. He was in the middle of the dirt-covered street.

"Gonna plug yer carcass fulla holes. Stop messin' with my gal."

"Ah, drop dead, ya horse thief! Draw!" yelled the clean-shaven man.

"Yeah, you draw!" yelled the bearded man. Both men drew.

"STOP it!" yelled Nova. But, a minute later, Derek grabbed her wrists and pulled her back.

Gunshots rang out in the street. A moment later, both men fell on their faces in the street.

Nova ran up to look at the clean-shaven man over Derek's protests. She felt his pulse at his neck, and felt it fade under her hand as he lay on the plank sidewalk.

"Oh, my God," she muttered as Derek ran up. "Derek, nothing more I can do for him...what a waste!"

"Dead?"

Nova nodded, wiping away her tears. "Captain Avatar always said, _wipe your tears and move on for the living_. Let me check the other one."

A man in jeans, a red vest, white shirt, black bandana, black cowboy hat, and silver star grabbed Nova's hand. "No. Don't go to help him."

"Who are _you_? That man might need emergency medical attention, and I'm trained in nursing!"

"I'm Marshal Ryu Nishimoto," responded the brown-haired man with the hard voice that Nova immediately recognized as one of the men she had overheard up in that tree. "I'm the law around here, Miss, and we don't help people who get shot in gunfights. We figure it's their own business and their own fault, unless they can get up and have enough money to go see the town doctor and bite the bullet and have some whiskey for the operation. That is...unless you're his girlfriend, that is?"

"No, I'm her husband," said Derek. "We came from a ship that recently came in. We're officers on shore leave."

Nishimoto went over to the bearded man and gave him a good, hard kick. "Yup, dead. I'll get the undertaker to pick them up later on. Well, officer whomever ya are, this is _not_ your ship. We don't like the military much here. We run our own affairs, and we don't care for outsiders meddling about in _our_ business."

"Marshal, stop picking on them. Especially the young woman," said a low but authoritative female voice.

"Why is that? We barely tolerate your presence here, girl," said Nishimoto.

Nova turned, and noticed that the voice belonged to a woman with a most striking appearance.

_Oh, my God, she looks just like my cousin Jane...except for those green eyes...and that scar. Who is she?_ Nova thought. _She looks tough._

The young woman wore a red tunic with a silver-white skull and crossbones emblem on the front, along with a red, black, and purple cloak, white leggings, and distinctive calf-high red boots. She had bright red hair, and had a skull-and-crossbones pin in her hair. She wore two weapons; a blaster and a sword.

The sword was out, and it was being pointed at the Marshal. "I see you just raised the local bounty on my head, Marshal. Why don't you try to collect on it? It'd make you rich," said the newcomer in a calm but definite _don't mess with me_ sort of voice.

"We could kill you any time we wanted, Captain Emeraldas. We're just waiting for the right time."

"Like when our ships aren't near the planet? Not too likely. Now, stop hassling this young man and this young woman. My friends have business with them tonight."

"How do you know them? I've never seen them in this town before."

"You must have failed your history lessons," said Emeraldas in a calm voice. "If you knew whom you were just talking with, you'd be more afraid of this couple than you are of me. I have a lot of respect for these people."

_She knows!_ Derek thought. _And her name sounds familiar. She must be a confederate of that Harlock we were about to meet here._

Derek was about to ask a question, but Emeraldas respectfully raised a hand and said, "Please, Captain. As you were saying, Marshal?"

"Why do you respect these people so much?" said the Marshal as he looked at Nova and Derek. "They don't look very exceptional, big, tall, or strong. I only see one blaster, and that's the old one the man has."

"I guess the names 'Wildstar' or 'Kodai' must not ring a bell with you," said Emeraldas as Derek and Nova looked on in shock. "Don't worry," she said as she looked at them. "Anyone who knows history and how the timelines intersect here must have guessed they would come here sooner or later. At any rate, you're quite safe with me and my friends. Not that I have too many doubts about your ability to get yourselves out of tight spots, my friends. I'm older than you, but you're both vigorous, young, and almost at the height of your abilities. Everything that's transpired between you and Desslok is well known to anyone who can read. And we know that where you are, _Yamato _is not far behind. Ignore him. He won't do anything. Not without his posse. Now, come on. We have friends waiting."

Then, Nishimoto looked on with shock as Emeraldas sheathed her cutlass, beckoning for Derek and Nova to follow her.

"Interesting," whispered Derek.

"Yes," nodded Nova. "I think I like her already."

"Nova, thanks for the compliment," said Emeraldas while looking back. She smiled and walked onwards.

As the Wildstars were about to learn tonight, it was not easy to earn this woman's respect.

* * *

A while later, they stood before a classic clapboard saloon with batwing doors. The sign above it read: **THE RED DOG SALOON. Est. 2978. **

"I see that people smoke a lot in there," said Derek as he looked through the doors.

"God, what a stench," said Nova as she coughed. "Don't they know tobacco is a major carcinogen?"

"That they do, but they still do it," said Emeraldas. She began to go in, but a short middle-aged man with a dark green bandana around his head ran up. "Captain! We picked up a scan you ought to know about."

"When, Mister Daiyama?" asked Emeraldas.

"About twenty minutes ago. The Chief sent me down in the shuttle right after you left."

"Excuse me, please," said Emeraldas. "I'll meet the two of you inside. Look for a short man with a wide-brimmed hat, thick glasses, and a poncho with a strange-looking bird. He'll be accompanied by a brown-haired man with a scar and a blue uniform who might be wearing a cowboy hat; he's sort of dressed down tonight. They'll know you two on sight."

"Okay," said Derek. "Nova, let's go in."

"Right."

They pushed the batwing doors and walked in.

Loud honky-tonk piano music surrounded them as they walked in. Nova coughed again at the heavy cigar and cigarette smoke that filled the joint. Laughter and cursing could be heard from the round tables in this dimly-lit saloon. Nova noticed no women in here except for two women in short skirts who were languidly leaning against a balcony above the huge bar. When one of them gave a flash of black fishnet hose, Nova immediately guessed at her profession.

Derek and Nova walked up to the bar together, ignoring the muttering and comments from the habitués of the bar, all of whom looked rather dirty and ill-favored.

A bartender with white hair, a white beard, and a fishnet cap on walked up. "Hi, son," he said to Wildstar. "Name your poison."

"Your best draft beer, please," said Derek.

"Same for me," said Nova.

"I wasn't talking to you, miss. And I'm not sure it's such a good idea for you to be in here. The Boss doesn't like women and children being in here."

"I'm his wife," said Nova. "If he drinks, I drink with him."

Up in the balcony, one of the establishment girls leaned over to her partner and whispered, "Bartimeus had better throw her out, soon. If she isn't outta here, she'll destroy all of our business for tonight."

"Yeah, Melody," said her dark-haired partner in a high voice. "All the cowpokes in here will wanna be sleeping with _her_. Stupid blondie. She looks too much like that pirate queen witch we see in town every now and then."

* * *

A moment later, the bartender slid two mugs of beer down the polished bar towards Derek and Nova.

Derek tasted his beer. "Not bad."

"Yecch," said Nova after tasting hers.

"What's wrong? You usually like a good cold draft from a frosty mug like that."

"I like cocktails better. Derek, this is watered."

He took some of her beer and tasted it. "Yeah. They gypped you."

Nova banged her mug on the bar. "Bartender!"

"Yeah?" said the old man.

"Sir, this isn't beer. It's a glass of water diluted with beer," said Nova with a witty smile.

"I told ya; he doesn't like women and children being in here. Neither do the saloon girls."

"Ignore what _they_ want. I want a real beer," said Nova.

"Nothing doing, girlie."

"Give her the beer," said an eccentric-looking young man in a wide-brimmed hat and poncho who only came up to Nova's belt line. "She already paid for it, ya crook."

"Oh, look at this. A kid's telling me what to do, now. Lady, did you bring your son in here? You are one messed-up broad."

"I'm not her son," said the little man in a high-pitched voice. "I'm a man, too."

A few of the men in the bar guffawed loudly. Behind his glasses, the little man rolled up his small eyes and pulled out a huge katana. A scowling man pointed a gun at him, but the little man took a confident swing at his gun.

Somehow, the barrel fell off. Then, a moment later, the strange little man swung again, cutting his sandwich in half. Then, he used his sword to push a mug of beer under the tap, tapped the beer tap with the tip of the _katana_ until the mug was full, and then used the _katana_ to push the beer down towards Nova.

"Thanks," said Nova.

"My pleasure."

"Hey!" yelled the bartender. "Ain't ya payin' for that?"

"If you gyp women, it's _your_ loss," said the little man. He followed up his declaration with a high-pitched laugh, and said, "C'mon. Now that you've got drinks, my friend's waiting for you."

"Who are you?" said Derek.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance, sir. My name is Tochiro Oyama, former Lieutenant Commander, Engineering, United Nations Space Defense Forces. I knew your brother and his best friend Stephen Sandor. Decent people. Funny, but people here say I left a lot of descendants running around. Haven't met any yet, though! And boy, am I a long way from Tokyo! You can thank the Gamilons for that."

He laughed again, thinking this was tremendously funny.

They sat down at a round table. A strange bird flew up and sat on Tochiro's shoulder as a man in an old blue shipsuit with a high Captain's collar (Derek recognized it because he had seen Alex wearing this old issue once, a long time ago) looked up and waved a cheery hello at his friend.

Then, his face turned very serious. He had a mane of long brown hair that made Derek's look positively neat, and a huge scar disfigured his right cheek. His left eye was gone, replaced by an eyepatch. He wore a black cowboy hat, and he drank wine from a goblet.

"At last we meet," said the man. "Or, rather, we meet again, Captain Wildstar. I met you once under different circumstances back when you were far too young to remember. I was close to your brother, and I told him a long time ago I'd always be your shadow when he wasn't around. Unfortunately, the Gamilons didn't allow things to happen that way."

"_I'm_ his shadow," said Nova protectively.

"I don't remember you," said Captain Wildstar. "What's your name?"

"Captain P. F. Harlock, former Captain, United Nations Space Defense Forces, and former master of the command missile ship _Deathshadow_. I once commanded a squadron of missile ships that your brother Alex was in. His ship, the _Paladin_, actually took the place of my flagship for a while after my ship disappeared. I'm descended from a line of pilots, and I have heard that there are descendants of mine running around. Never met them, though. Lucky for me."

"Interesting," said Derek. "You wanted to meet with us? I take it you've heard of the _Argo?_"

"Secondhand, and the same goes for the name. I never saw her being built, of course. I met with Admiral Avatar once, back when the ship was called _Yamato_. They had plans made up for her. She was supposed to be a sort of Noah's Ark to take men, women, and animals and plants off of Earth if it ever became unlivable. She was just a set of blueprints when I heard of her, but I did see the blueprints; she looked like a neat design. Then, I was forced to leave Earth behind. It was amazing, when I came in, looking up on my viewscreen and finally seeing the legendary ship in reality. Sort of like waking up from a dream. And you're the famous Nova Forrester?"

"Yes, I am. How'd I get to be so...?"

"News travels fast in the Gamilon fleet, and then out to the rest of the universe, even though Desslok may not like it. It's now quite well-known what transpired between you and Desslok just a little while ago. Oh. Sorry about my error. I know you're married to him now. Please forgive my rudeness."

"Of course, Harlock," said Nova.

"Now, as for your history?" said Derek.

"Unimportant for now," said Harlock. He took out a data disc and small portable holographic reader about the size of a folding camera. "I have some information to share with you. Without this, you'll never get out of this region of space and get home. Since I owe you a personal debt of obligation I could never fulfill until now, I figured this would be the best time in which to fulfill my debt to you and Alex."

"This is the situation," said Harlock as he put the data disc into his portable reader.

First, an image of the planet appeared. "Heavy Melder happens to lie at the intersection of several hundred hyperspace routes. It and its star actually appear in different places around the Local Group, depending upon which time stream you're coming in from. You're on this time stream right now," he said, pointing at a flashing blue line indicating the _Argo's_ course inwards. To get back out into the space between your galaxy and the Great Magellenic Cloud in your time, just continue to follow the route like this," said Harlock as the line grew longer and eventually disappeared off the graphic. "You will have to warp at exactly 1.34 AU's away from the planet. Warp precisely ten thousand lightyears in this direction," he said as coordinates appeared below the line. "Tochiro calculated those. Those coordinates will get you right to Planet Balan, where you can resume your journey."

"And you'll have to resume it soon," said Tochiro. "Because time is running out. Of course, you take this data capsule with you..."

"Why do you say time is running out?" asked Derek.

"Take a look," said Tochiro as he readjusted a control on the reader.

A small but exquisite image of the Great Magellenic Cloud and the Milky Way appeared above the reader before a startled Derek and Nova's eyes. "See that flashing dot at the far side of the Great Magellenic Cloud?" asked Tochiro. "That thing is a planet-sized fortress I picked up. From what I can guess, it has a diameter of about eighteen thousand kilometers, and the mass of either Earth or Mars. The power levels coming off that object are immense. I wonder who could have built this thing? I did a course projection, and it looks like it's heading right for the Milky Way at an immense speed."

Derek and Nova looked at each other with shock. _Ekogaru? Oh, God, we're too late! _Nova thought. _We can never make it to Iscandar before he does now! _

"I can tell that's what you're seeking?" asked Emeraldas as she came up to the table. She gave Tochiro a hug before she sat down.

"Why the hug?" said Tochiro.

"You're not the same as him, but you're getting better," she whispered.

"And?"

"You make me laugh," she said with a smile, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Now, about your fortress," said Emeraldas in a louder voice.

"Yes. It's much closer to Iscandar than we thought it was," said Derek. "How old is this scan?"

"I took it on the _Arcadia_ yesterday. The _Arcadia_...that's our ship. The _Deathshadow_ we knew is long-gone," said Tochiro. "That power source wasn't hard to pick up. Right now, he's only ninety thousand light-years from the Sanzar System."

"The _Arcadia_?" asked Nova.

"My pirate battleship," said Harlock as an image of the _Arcadia_appeared. She was a sleek, good-sized ship in dark blue bearing a skull and crossbones and an unusual aft deck that resembled that of an ancient galleon. "She was rebuilt from the wreck of an old Gamilon vessel by Tochiro and my crew after we escaped the Gamilon penal colony we were held in. In the Battle of Tethys in 2196, my vessel was shot up and Tochiro and I were captured. We were sent to a Gamilon labor colony after having our memories erased. We were worked as slaves, until it came out that the operation was imperfectly done for Tochiro and I. When we found something that jogged our memory, we planned an escape with our fellow prisoners, stole a Gamilon faster-than-light battleship, and then left. Later on, Tochiro rebuilt her, and we took to the Sea of Stars, plundering our enemies as well as any other ships we could fight. As you might guess, we are all professional space pirates as well as freedom fighters."

"The Harlock of my time has a much bigger version of the _Arcadia_ built according to the same design," said Emeraldas. "But that version has a skull and crossbones right on the bow. Yours, I see, has a ram there."

"So what do you plunder?" asked Captain Wildstar with a grin. "It appears I'm sitting here with a couple of cutthroats."

Tochiro smiled a wide, toothy smile that reminded Derek of Doctor Sane.

"We plunder what we need from other vessels," said Captain Harlock. "Emeraldas and I fight for one thing; freedom. We detest Gamilon, Rikasha, the Mechanized Empire, the Cometines, whomever tries to keep people from living as free men and women. I have abandoned Earth to live in the sea of stars as a fighter like a _ronin_ and fulfill this purpose until I die. Then, as I understand from being here in this place that spans all times and places, other descendants of mine shall live to take up the same quest."

"As long as there is deep space, as long as men and women wish to live free, there will always be a Harlock," said Emeraldas. "I am aging, myself, but as long as there are women who wish to live free, there will always be an Emeraldas, as well," said the female pirate. "Even after I die, others will follow in my footsteps. It has been this way for centuries. And there is a mystery about me you do not know. Harlock knows, Tochiro knows...but..."

"Can you tell us?" asked Nova.

"No, I cannot. It would affect what you must do," said Emeraldas. "Trust me."

"I see," said Nova, a little crestfallen.

Derek said, "Since you know of my brother...I think you know about my parents, Harlock."

"Your brother told me. And I'm so sorry. Let me buy you another drink."

"I'm not sure I want..."

All of a sudden, Derek Wildstar felt something hard and cold being pressed into the back of his neck.

'Hey, kid. Your midget buddy over there cut my friend's cut up with his freaky sword."

"Yeah," said another one behind Harlock. "We don't like freaks in this town."

"Especially ugly little ones like you," said another man as he and another one put weapons into Tochiro's neck.

"You people have some _nerve_," said Emeraldas calmly as she got up. To her surprise, Nova got up with her.

A fifth one came up behind the two women. "You two ladies have a chance to get your asses out of here now. I'm sure that you don't want to see your men getting their faces rearranged."

"Sure you don't want your _own_ face rearranged?" said Nova sweetly. "You're ugly enough that it wouldn't matter much."

The local galoots began laughing, and their guard relaxed.

Tochiro started it by getting up and smacking one of his captors a good one in the mouth.

A moment later, his enraged friend grabbed Tochiro by his poncho and threw him out the front window of the saloon.

A few other people got up, and Captain Wildstar and Captain Harlock also jumped up, pushing away their tormentors' blasters.

Wildstar looked straight at Emeraldas. "Do me a favor. Get Nova out of here. NOW!"

"_Derek!"_ Nova protested. "Hey, I can back you up!"

"Unfortunately, he might have a point," said Emeraldas. "Come on...we need to see if Tochiro is all right. I do understand you're a nurse? Tochiro might need patching up. I hope you have something in that handbag of yours."

A somewhat unwilling Nova was pulled out of the saloon by Emeraldas, looking back reproachfully at her husband as she left.

"Now, that we have the women out of the way so they don't get hurt by flying chairs or bottles?" said Derek.

"Now, we can kick some tail," said Harlock.

"Yeah," replied Derek. "Let's get to it!"

* * *

**_TO BE CONTINUED WITH ACT SIX--"BUSHWHACKED!"_**

* * *

**_THERE ARE NOW 99 DAYS TO THE ARRIVAL OF EKOGARU IN EARTH'S SOLAR SYSTEM_**


	6. Chapter 6

* * *

**ALTERNATE TALES OF THE STAR FORCE**

**STAR BLAZERS---****RETURN TO THE GREAT MAGELLENIC CLOUD**

**Being the seventh part of THE RIKASHA INCIDENT--- BY: Frederick P. Kopetz**

* * *

**ACT SIX-- BUSHWHACKED!**

**GoldAngel**** (and other reviewers) Thanks for your support and input thus far on this story. The "western" planet Heavy Melder and the town of Gun Frontier are creations of Leiji Matsumoto that first appeared in the manga he produced in the late 1960's and early 1970's in which he introduced perhaps his most often-used original character, Captain Harlock, who was to have even appeared in the original first series of Yamato before it was cut down from 39 to 26 episodes. Heavy Melder first showed up (saloons and all) in the 1979 theatrical feature Galaxy Express 999, in which Maetel, Harlock, and Emeraldas made some pretty significant appearances. Heavy Melder and Gun Frontier have shown up frequently in Matsumoto's works since then, often in conjunction with Harlock and sometimes in conjunction with his bounty hunter Sylvia. Also, at times, the Yamato herself has shown up in Matsumoto's indepedent manga works and anime series as a "guest ship"-- Freddo**

**_Star Blazers_**** and _Space Battleship Yamato_ is © 2003 by Voyager Entertainment and Leiji Matsumoto.**

**Some themes and characters from some of Leiji Matsumoto's other works appear herein, as well. Captain Harlock, Emeraldas, Maetel, Tochiro Oyama, Sylvia/Sylviana, the planet Heavy Melder, the town of Gun Frontier, and the _Arcadia_, _Deathshadow_, and _Queen Emeraldas_ are © 2003 by Leiji Matsumoto, based upon characters in situations in many of his different anime series and manga creations. The manga in question (_Galaxy Express 999_) was © 1998 by Leiji Matsumoto and VIZ Media. No infringement is intended; the references in question are intended as a tribute to Matsumoto-_sensei's_ great inspiration and wonderfully varied universe.**

* * *

**I. A HOLDING PATTERN**

**Planet Heavy Melder**

**About 60,000 lightyears away from Earth**

**Space Battleship _Argo_**

**Staff Conference Room**

**Wednesday February 17, 2202**

**1948 Hours Space Time (Earthtime)**

* * *

Deputy Captain Mark Venture sat at the head of the table in the small staff conference room in the _Argo's_ bridge tower, looking over the bridge crew and main staff of the ship.

"Since we're waiting for the Captain and Nova to come back to us with some important navigational information, I'd like to get us caught up on where we are and what we have to do. That's why I have Aliscea up here with us today. He nodded to the young Pellian, who nodded back. "Becky," he said to Rebecca Voorhees from the Living Group, "What has our Rikashan prisoner told us?"

"He's given us information on his Empire which, I pray, is accurate," said Becky as she stood with a data capsule. "Nova made a summary of this information in brief before she left with the Captain, and she wanted me to play it if she wasn't available to give her _précis_ on the Rikashan Star Empire herself. So, without further ado, let me play this. I'll fast-forward a little past Nova's introduction. Everyone here, I trust, knows who she is." Voorhees worked some controls at her place at the table. "Here we go."

A graphic of the galaxy came up, and Nova's voice spoke clearly and firmly over the briefing room speakers.

"From what the prisoner has told Doctor Sane, Doctor Bradford, Miss Voorhees, and myself in several sessions over the past few days, this is what the Rikashan Star Empire is."

"Rikasha," continued Nova's recorded voice, "Is an ancient civilization, located on a desert world in the far side of the Milky Way Galaxy, over 90,000 lightyears across the galactic disk from Earth, at this point."

"Hmmm," said Sandor. "That's the same thing Cha'rif told us."

Venture nodded.

"It is said that Rikasha suffered greatly in a war thousands of years ago, and the planet was bombed beyond recognition," continued Nova's recorded voice.

"So say the histories," said Aliscea with a very grim nod.

"After the war, after hundreds of years, a new Rikashan government began to develop, according to what our prisoner has told us. Rikasha is ruled by a council of Dukes, from which is chosen a Lord; who is the planet's absolute military dictator. The Lord of Rikasha rules with the advice and consent of the R'Khell priesthood, which is represented at the Council through a High Priestess," said Nova's voice.

"The R'Khells," said Venture. "I wonder who they were? At some points, they called this the Rikashan/R'Khell Empire."

"According to what our prisoner told us," continued Nova, "the R'Khells are a related but separate race of the Rikashan people; the persons who were not mutated by the war as badly as the Rikashans on Rikasha were. The R'Khell priesthood, largely in the service of Ekogaru, whom the Rikashans worship as their god of war, is a particularly vicious group of shock troops. They were responsible for...some of the worst atrocities in this war, so far."

The recorded Nova paused. "The Rikashans have conquered other races, as well, and have either enslaved them directly or have let remnants of their governments serve as "allies" of the Empire. The Bolar Federation, whom our prisoner says was once a great Empire of its own that enslaved other races, is one race that came into an "alliance" with Rikasha in this fashion, by being enslaved by the Rikashans, who have grown stronger than they have. Our prisoner says that a three-hundred year long war with the Bolars recently ended, with Rikasha as the victor."

"Bolars," said Venture. "Sandor, I wonder what they look like?"

"Maybe they're not that different from the Rikashans?" asked Dash.

"I wish we knew more about their ships and what they look like," said Homer.

"Our prisoner also says that a race called the Deingils have also been enslaved by the Rikashans. They were supposed to be a vicious warrior race with advanced technology. Many of them have been enslaved by the military authorities on Rikasha. Also, the Rikashans, as we know, are very cruel, although they are also capable of great kindness and decency. This decency is usually not shown towards their enemies, however. I have been told that in Rikasha's Empire, slavery is still practiced. Also, I have been told that women are only allowed to serve as priestesses or prostitutes...when they are allowed to work at all. I have been told that, otherwise, women are considered chattel in all senses. My prisoner says that Rikasha wishes to push this culture upon us. I doubt that any one of us would want...to live under such a culture," said Nova's recorded voice.

"Stop," said Venture. The tape stopped.

"That," said Aliscea, "Is why we must stop Ekogaru. And why Rikasha must be stopped."

"Do you think this is going to be a long war?" asked Yamazaki.

Sandor took a deep breath. "I think so. I hope that the Captain and Nova can get back to the ship soon. We have much to do."

* * *

**II. THE MARSHAL'S POSSE**

**Planet Heavy Melder**

**About 60,000 lightyears away from Earth**

**Village**** of Gun**** Frontier**

**Red Dog Saloon**

**Wednesday February 17, 2202**

**1951 Hours Space time (Earthtime)**

**(About 9 PM Local Planetary Time)**

* * *

"He's hurt," said Nova as she helped Emeraldas look at Tochiro.

"Owww...that hurts!" squeaked Tochiro as Nova pulled his hat off. In the saloon, things sounded real chaotic.

"He's bleeding badly from that cut. Can you fix it?" asked Emeraldas.

Nova nodded, opening up her purse. "Luckily, I brought some bandages and disinfectant. Here...let's get this spray on you, Tochiro. Good thing that data capsule's still here in my purse. Thank you."

He screamed as Nova put the spray on. "Emeraldas, can I slap her?"

"She's doing it for your own good. Stop being a _baby_, _koibito,_" said Emeraldas while she grabbed Tochiro's hand.

A man flew out the window and landed in the street.

"Wonder who threw _him_?" said Emeraldas. "Looks like Harlock's work."

"No. Derek's good at throwing people, too," said Nova. Their enemy cursed, tried to stand up, and fell down.

"How'd you know that?"

"When we spar, I get thrown like that sometimes. Of course, sometimes, I throw him like that, too. Luckily, there's always a mat around. Hmm...not bad. Good, matter of fact," said Nova as she worked with a wet bandage.

A chair flew over their heads. Nova just ducked.

"Hey, you're a cool character," said Emeraldas.

"Have to be. I'm trained as a combat nurse."

"Would you like a job with my crew?" joked Emeraldas.

"Already employed, thanks," said Nova. "There," she said. "Tochiro, that bandage will go over your head and chin. I know it'll look funny, but your hat should cover it."

"Thanks. I want to go in there and help Harlock out," said Tochiro. He giggled. "Boy, I must look funny."

"You do," chuckled Emeraldas.

Another window smashed, and a form was thrown out in a blur. The man landed on top of Nova with a loud _oomph_.

"Hmmmh?" said a stunned Nova through crossed eyes.

"Nova, we've got to _stop_ meeting like this," gasped Derek. He was right on top of his wife. "You all right?"

"Not bad, considering that I just broke your fall. I wanted to be in there helping you."

"Looks like you're about to get your chance," said Derek as they found themselves surrounded by four very big men.

"Here's for luck," whispered Nova as she gave Derek a quick kiss. Then, they both jumped up.

"Well, well, well," said one of them, a very big, ugly bald man with no shirt. "That yer girlfriend, buddy?"

"Wife and _koishii_" said Derek.

"And partner," added Nova. Fire burned in her eyes.

"Ohh...girlie here thinks she can fight."

Nova reached into her purse and pulled out a _tanto_ fighting knife. "Like to try?"

Derek grabbed up a bottle and broke it against a pillar of the porch over the saloon. "We're both armed."

One of the men rushed at Derek. Wildstar slashed out with the broken bottle, leaving a bloody line against his bare chest.

He fell back, but another man flailed at Derek with a pair of _nunchaku_.

Derek sized up the situation with a hiss of "_kuso_" in his native Japanese. Wildstar dodged the blow and caught the single _nunchuk_ in his free hand. He pulled on the weapon and dragged the man off balance. From behind, Nova quickly planted a foot in his rear end. The man fell to the ground.

While Derek dodged another blow, the man suddenly had a nearly flat white ladies' wedge sandal planted on his neck. Nova was wearing it. "Drop the weapon!" she snapped.

"I give up," grumbled the man. He let the _nunchaku_ fall out of his hand.

With a howl, another man tried to decapitate Nova with a _katana_. She ducked the blow just in time and then skipped up and flew back onto the board sidewalk.

The man tried to attack again, but Nova just slashed out with her knife. The man fell back with his face cut open. He was howling.

In the meantime, another man tried to slam Derek in the head with a lead pipe. He was stopped with a strong kick to his gut from the _Argo's_ Captain.

Someone threw a chair at both of them, but Tochiro jumped in, and, with a loud howl, he cut the chair in half with his _katana_. He smiled, drank heavily from a bottle of sake he had "liberated" from the saloon, and then planted his foot right into another attacker's crotch.

"_Ouch_," said Derek. "Not bad!"

Nova swung around and kicked away another attacker. He fell right into a barrel of whiskey. Dancing down onto the balls of her feet, Nova caught a breath.

Derek huffed, "Where are these guys coming from?"

"Yeah...they're all over the place," said Nova as she ducked a kick. Then, Harlock fell into her arms. "Hey, _careful!_"

"Thanks," he said. He stood up. A man came up with a roar. He was swinging a knife at Harlock. So, the brooding pirate captain threw a good punch, dropping him like a bull. He dispatched another one with a high kick. Seeing no one was around, Harlock caught his breath and drew his cutlass. "_Back_!" he yelled as three more men surrounded him, Nova, and Derek. "We all have weapons!"

Someone fired a beam weapon at Emeraldas. She whipped out her gravity cutlass, and, with one shot, dispatched him with a hole through his midsection. "Okay, that's one of you," she snapped. "Anyone else want to try?"

Nova flipped her knife into her other hand and got her astro-automatic out of her purse. Derek had his weapon in his hand a moment later. Not far away, a snarling Tochiro backed them up with his own cosmo-gun.

"You guys have taken out fourteen of our townsfolk and wrecked about three thousand credits' worth of property," said Marshal Nishimoto as he strode up with ten deputies. "I just deputized these men. Seems you were in league with these other jokers, who just attacked the south end of town."

"Which 'jokers', as you put it?" said Derek.

Eight more men strode up. Two of them had a handcuffed, black-cowled giant of a man held between them. One of them roughly threw back his hood.

"Captain," said a deep, somewhat nasal voice. "Even though I was here for _my_ reasons, we must stop meeting like this," said the stranger.

"Cha'rif?" hissed Wildstar. Facing Derek and Nova was their enemy, Baron Anton Cha'rif of Rikasha.

The Rikashan nodded once, acknowledging his enemy with fire in his green eyes. His orange skin looked quite pale in the evening light from the many moons and the gas streetlights.

"Ah, you know this man?" said Nishimoto.

"He was our enemy," said Derek. "Our peoples are currently at war. They started it."

"You guys seem to be on friendly terms for enemies," said Sylviana (aka Sylvia) the bounty hunter as she came up. She smiled and said, "How much of a share do I get for helping you catch Harlock?"

"Well...we'll see about that..."

"Do you think we're caught?" asked Emeraldas as she reached under her hair and, improbably, took off a small green earring. "Think again."

"What are you _doing_?" whispered Harlock.

"Little trick I learned from my sister Maetel," she smiled.

Emeraldas threw down the earring. Everything immediately exploded with a loud _bang_ and flash of light.

_Concussion charge!_ thought Captain Wildstar. _Neat trick!_

"Run for it!" she yelled. Harlock and Tochiro took the cue and ran, hoping they were going the right way.

"The boat's this way!" said Nova, who was temporarily dazzled by the bright light. She grabbed Derek's hand. "Follow me!"

The couple ran off, pursued by Cha'rif.

They ran and ran, not able to see that well as their eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness after the dazzling light.

Laser beams flew at them, and they dived into a doorway for cover. Before Derek could react and return fire out the doorway, someone kicked the doors shut from outside, securing them from the outside with a metal bar and a lock.

Wildstar threw himself against the doors, but they refused to budge. "CRUD!" he yelled. "Nova. Gimme a hand with this!"

Both of them threw themselves hard against the doors, so hard, as a matter of fact, that both of them would have bruises on their shoulders the next day.

"Trapped in here like rats in a Skinner maze," grumbled Nova with a despairing shake of her head.

"I think that's what they wanted to do. Dirty trick!" said Derek.

Nova grabbed his hand. "Derek, we'll find a way out of this. It looks like some kind of warehouse; see all the boxes? There has to be more than one way out of a warehouse."

"Okay...let's start looking for an exit. Wanna split up for a minute? Two heads are better than one in a place like this."

"No," said Nova.

"We should," said Derek. "Place looks big. We can communicate to each other with those whistle calls we used at Quantico."

"Yeah," said Nova. "This time it's no game." She stood in thought for a moment, and then put away her weapons. "You go that way...I'll go this way. I'll be listening for your call. Good luck."

"Thanks." They kissed and then temporarily split up to begin searching the warehouse.

* * *

A few minutes later, both of them began to wonder if this was a good idea.

Nova found another door within about six minutes; a side door by some large crates that she opened and found was unlocked.

She began to whistle to Derek, making a hooting whistling noise like that of an owl. Derek whistled back, and Nova then heard footsteps. _He's coming_, she thought. _Great! Soon, we can get out of here. Then I can give him a piece of my mind for letting us get split up at the saloon. I know he meant well, but it caused so much trouble that we could have avoided if we had stuck together. The five of us together could have taken those guys and got out through a back door..._

Then, a minute later, she heard more footsteps. She put up her fists, dropped her purse, and prepared to run, but a flashlight shone in her eyes a moment later.

Four...no...five men surrounded her. "We got ya," they said. "Marshal just deputized us. Come in alive or you'll come in dead."

Backed against a crate, Nova began to size them up. _Three of them are big, two small_. She whistled again to Derek. _If I can put the small guys out of action, I can get past these big guys; they surely can't run as fast as I can. _

Nova put up a fist and prepared to kick at the smallest of the men. But, it seemed one of them was a martial-arts master himself. He anticipated her move, catching her foot as soon as she kicked.

Thrown off balance, another one grabbed her other foot, and a third came up behind her and put a heavy arm around her waist.

They picked her up off the ground. "Derek!" she screamed while she struggled. They found her a rather tough fish to catch; one of her flailing punches knocked a deputy's tooth clean out. "Come give me a hand!" she cried. "Derek!"

One of the laughing men picked up her purse and withdrew her _tanto_. "How do ya like having your own knife against your throat, ya stupid tramp? Move any more, and I'll slit ya open!"

"DEREK!" yelled Nova at the top of her lungs, only to get greeted with a slap in the face from of the deputies.

A moment later, she heard more yelling, and saw about seven men dragging a bloodied, bruised Derek up before her. His hair was very messy, and his teeth were gritted.

"Let that woman go," he gasped. "Your people started this in the saloon. We didn't!"

"Both of ya are under arrest for wrecking town property and abetting and aiding known space pirates with bounties on their heads, along with your Rikashan buddies."

"You idiots!" yelled Captain Wildstar. "We're fighting those men!"

"You can give your defenses at your trial. You're goin' to th' barbershop to see Judge Butler tanight, youse guys. Ya probably won't be around for the morning..."

"Let us go," said Nova. "If you'd hear our side, you can explain. This isn't even a just arrest. Procedurally, you haven't read us _our rights..._"

The men guffawed. "Little lady tinks she's a lawyer, huh? Okay...we'll tell the Judge to let you talk first at the trial. You see if you can argue yer way outta the noose, ya blonde skank."

"You don't call her that!" yelled Derek.

"Derek, thanks for trying to defend my honor, but did you hear him?" cried Nova. "They're want to _hang _us!"

"Right at dawn, babe. Right at dawn," chuckled one of the men. "All right...let's go! Take 'em to Butler's Tonsorial Salon. Quick!"

Still struggling, Derek and Nova were carried out of the warehouse like cats in bags.

* * *

**III. WAITING**

**Planet Heavy Melder**

**About 60,000 lightyears away from Earth**

**Space Battleship _Argo_**

**First**** Bridge**

**Wednesday February 17, 2202**

**2043 Hours Space time (Earthtime)**

* * *

Mark Venture, the _Argo's_ First Officer, sat in a funk. "They haven't reported in, yet, Sandor. We were at least supposed to hear from them. You gave Nova one of those tight-beam neutrino transmitters you invented so they could talk to us from down there without being detected."

"Give them some time," said Sandor. "Maybe they're still talking with the parties that they need to see."

Aliscea came onto the bridge. She said, without preamble, "They're in trouble."

"How do you know that?" asked Venture.

"She just told me she was scanning the surface for them," said Rosstowski. "She just told me their life forces have weakened."

"Mister Raiden, please allow me," she said as she quietly began to push Raiden away from the cosmo-radar.

"Aliscea, what are you doing?" asked Venture. "We don't allow visitors to touch bridge instruments unless we have a good reason."

"I need to scan the area for a ship," she said without further ado. Looking a little like Nova in some party dress behind the console, she sat down and began to work controls as if she knew what she was doing. The radar began to bleep. "Right there. RPM-221, distance...one megameter. Switch to main screen."

She flicked a switch, and an image of a strange dark blue spacecraft appeared on the _Argo's_ main screen. "The _Arcadia_." She said. "That's Harlock's ship. Please hail them right away. Tell them I'll be aboard shortly."

"Aliscea!" cried Paul. "How are you getting there?"

"Did you hail them yet?" she said as she stood up.

Venture said, "Homer, call them!"

The communications officer nodded curtly. A moment later, Homer began to make the call. "Spaceship _Arcadia_. This is Space Battleship _Argo _of the First Interstellar Special Missions Force from Planet Earth. _Arcadia_, please respond."

A somewhat whiny voice came on the radio. "This is Third Mate Yattaran. Tochiro's asleep and Kei's indisposed. What do you guys want?"

"Tell Harlock I'm coming," said Aliscea as she walked up to Homer's post and grabbed his headset off his very surprised head. She put it on without further ado.

"Who's this?" said the whiny voice.

"Aliscea Rosstowski, formerly of Pellias. Harlock will know who I am. I must see him at once."

Aliscea's brash young voice held such authority that Yattaran just shrugged. "Harlock won't be too happy, but I'll tell him you're coming. How will you land your ship?"

"I have no need of a ship at such a close distance," she said as Venture's eyebrows went up. "Tell Harlock I will be waiting for him at the door of his cabin."

Aliscea then sent to Paul, _I'm leaving now. I'll see you later, my love. No time to waste! You know I just learned this skill since we left Pellias!_

_Can I come with you?_ Paul thought back.

_No, I can only do one. I haven't reached the level of skill to do more than one yet. See you later!_

"Aliscea, what are you doing?" asked Venture.

Aliscea set the headset on Homer's console and said. "Leaving. Homer, please shield your eyes."

"What?" he said.

Aliscea then gleamed like a firebrand and vanished right off the _Argo's_ bridge.

"_What the...?_' said Dash.

"Looks like some form of teleportation," said Sandor.

"Only...Trelaina could do that," said Venture.

"Beats me how she did that," said Parsons. "Rosstowski?"

"One of her powers," said Paul. "She just told me five minutes ago, too."

"And you just let her go?" said Venture indignantly.

"She'll be back," said Paul. "And being married to her doesn't give me any right to tell her what to do."

* * *

Harlock sat in his cabin, sipping at some wine. He had changed into one of his pirate uniforms; a black top and jeans with high boots; he usually wore a cloak with his uniform. However, he didn't have it on right now as he was trying to relax in the _Arcadia__'s_ luxurious Captain's saloon in the poop deck of the ship.

_Before dawn, Emeraldas and I will work together and get them free, _thought Harlock. _Granted, I will have to terrify the people of those town to do so, but Emeraldas told me that my later self already did something like that to this town and they already fear me as a result. Nice to have one's reputation precede you, isn't it?_

The pirate Captain smiled grimly while he worked on some wooden object with a dagger. _Not bad,_ he thought. _I've always liked having an ocarina around. Hope I remember how to play the damn thing. _

A knock came at his door a moment later.

"Who is it?" he said. "Kei, since Tochiro is away, I asked not to be disturbed!"

"It's not your second mate," said a female voice. "It's me, Harlock. My name is Aliscea. I came from the ship you know as the _Yamato_. You were told about me by Captain Wildstar, Harlock. I need to see you at once."

"How did you get aboard?"

"I have abilities most people don't understand. I can go from place to place without being detected at close range. I've been improving my range lately since I left Pellias, when I could barely do this. Please let me see you."

Harlock opened the double doors to his cabin and smiled as the young woman walked in.

"You look very much like my lost love on Earth," he said.

"What was her name?" said Aliscea as she came in, luxuriating at the feel of the carpet under her sandals.

"That's not important now," said Harlock. "I was in the midst of planning a rescue for your Captain."

"Where's your first mate, Mr. Oyama? I would like to compliment him on the construction of your vessel. It would be nice to have him here, too."

"He was hurt in battle below on the planet," said Harlock. "He's being treated by his lover Emeraldas on her ship, the _Queen Emeraldas_. We shall see him in the morning before dawn."

"What were you planning?" asked Aliscea.

"A plan wherein my ship and the _Queen Emeraldas_ would show up over the planet near dawn, when they usually hang people there, according to what Emeraldas has told me. Then, we would use a landing force to take the prisoners before they are hung and get them back to the _Arcadia_ We could make sure that they are returned to your ship before they leave the area, of course."

"Good. I'm already telling my bondmate," smiled Aliscea. "We share a telepathic link. I can tell him things mind-to-mind."

"Do you have any suggestions?" asked Harlock.

"I do. Give me some time and I can advise you of them. These are ideas I am getting from the memories that live within me. Bear in mind, I haven't actually done these things, but..."

"I have seen many odd things in the Sea of Stars, but I trust you," said Harlock. "Now, let's see what you have to do. Please sit down."

Taking Phantom F. Harlock III's advice to heart, Aliscea sat down.

* * *

**IV. THE HANGING JUDGE**

**Planet Heavy Melder**

**About 60,000 lightyears away from Earth**

**Village**** of Gun**** Frontier**

**Butler****'s Tonsorial Parlor**

**Wednesday February 17, 2202**

**2112 Hours Space time (Earthtime)**

**(About 10:30 PM Local Planetary Time)**

* * *

"Well, my little lady, you've got some nerve fighting our deputies like that. Yew also have terrible split ends."

Nova Wildstar crossed her eyes and exhaled angrily. "This is the most moronic place I've ever heard of to hold a trial; a barbershop! Don't you have a _real _courtroom in this town?"

Nova was a very unwilling participant. She had been dragged to one of the barber chairs, strapped down while handcuffed, and also tied down for good measure. Two deputies stood nearby with shotguns aimed at her head in case she decided to fight.

Not far away, there was a waiting area. Captain Derek Wildstar was also handcuffed and tied up; he had been thrown onto the old brown cushioned settee himself. Two other deputies likewise had guns aimed at his head. Both of them had been stripped of their weapons, and the all-important data capsule, which had been in Nova's purse.

"It's mah barbershop, and it's mah courtroom," mumbled the fat, smelly bearded old man. "'Scuse me while I get some liquid refreshment."

Nova tried not to throw up while the judge with severe b. o. grabbed up a bottle of bourbon and swilled some of the brown liquor down like a pig. _Doctor Sane has more class than this guy_, thought Nova while Butler drank half the bottle. Then, licking his chops and swaying, he turned on some country music on a stereo system. It was banjo music, and Nova thought she recognized the tune; _Foggy Mountain Breakdown_. The drunken barber/judge got a pair of scissors, and began to cut the back of Nova's hair while he talked.

"Yew and yer boyfriend..."

"Husband. AND _itoshii_!"

"Boyfriend there are charged with wrecking seven thousand credits' worth of Gun Frontier property; each. We've searched your effects. You only have seven hundred credits, and some old data tape, probably a teenybopper pop record a' yours, which we've done confiscated to pay for the costs of this trial. Okay. We didn't done confiscate your cartridge. We threw it back in her purse cause it's worthless. We don't need yoah teen heartthrob tape, Blondie! Let it hang around on her corpse after she's dead. Make a nice buzzard treat along with her eyes."

"We didn't wreck that much property!" cried Nova.

"Yeah! We didn't!" yelled Derek.

"Ain't the way we do things heah," said one of the deputies. "We done elected Butler and Nishimoto to clean up this town after those weird pirates wrecked it years ago. They done cleaned it up. We hang the guilty and we hang some a' the innocent, too. We figure God can sort 'em all out."

"Shut the kid up, Sancho. Haven't gotten to him yet."

"Right, sir," said one of the deputies, who slapped Derek across the face.

The bell above the barbershop door dinged like crazy. In came four more deputies, shoving and pushing a black-cloaked giant in a white uniform trimmed with a blue collar. He was very tall, had unruly long brown hair, orange skin, and weird green-on-green eyes.

He was punched and kicked a few times, and then rudely shoved into the settee next to Derek.

Wildstar looked on in shock. Beside him (and right against him) was Baron Anton Cha'rif of Rikasha.

"Don't look at me like that," said Cha'rif. "They've got me handcuffed, too," he said, looking back at his handcuffs and at the mirror on the wall behind them. Seems I'm on trial after you and your wife are done. I see she's still up there getting her trial and haircut. They do weird things around here."

"You've got all of those occult powers, or so you said, once," said Wildstar. "Can't you escape?"

"Regrettably, no. I drained my power today looking for you. My fleet is currently two hundred megameters away from your ship. No. Don't worry. I gave them orders not to attack unless I'm actually there to lead the attack. It has to be something of a fair fight between us."

"Considering your people have a habit of mentally attacking my crew, I'd hardly call the way you fight fair," snapped Derek.

"You have an advantage we don't have. Aliscea. Not even _she_ realizes the power she holds yet. We do. That is why she is such a threat to us and to our Lord Ekogaru. You must understand; if your God spoke to you and told you such and such was a threat, wouldn't you listen to Him? We are in the same position, Wildstar. We have no choice but to fight this holy war against you."

"And we mean to beat you!"

"I understand that," said Cha'rif. "I would think less of you were you to say otherwise. We will invade your Earth, and assimilate it into the Rikashan Star Empire after a great battle in which you may die. The time is soon coming. Or, when his Lordship arrives, maybe He has other plans for your world? I don't know for sure. He does not tell me everything."

"He's a madman. Aliscea says so!"

"Aliscea, with all respect, is a heretic. He is our War God and my Master. I am sworn to obey Him as a warrior of my people. I tell you this, though, Wildstar. I respect your ship and your crew as well as you."

"Considering you killed a few of us the other day, you've got a funny damn way of showing it. And you never gave that little boy back to us, either."

Cha'rif paused. "It is war, Wildstar. In war, one must be hard and difficult. And determined to win. Personal feelings cannot come into this at all, no they cannot! However, when we defeat you..."

"Fat chance that'll happen."

"Your spirit...admirable, yet foolish. As I said, _when_ we defeat you, and I become the viceroy of our Empire over your Planet Earth, if it is His Lordship's will, if you are still alive, and your crew, I intend to offer all of them commissions in the Rikashan Imperial Starfleet. You would command them. Then, you would join us in our battles. That is how highly I think of you. You would make a great comrade in arms, Captain Wildstar."

"I wouldn't want to join an evil power like _yours_," said Wildstar. "Your people commit war crimes...atrocities...seem to think that kidnapping women is fun..."

"We shall see," said Cha'rif. At that, he smiled and fell into silence for a while.

In the barber's chair, Nova had just had her hair trimmed slightly. Finally, Judge Butler said, "Based on what we've been talkin' about, I pronounce you as guilty as sin. And, well, you'll be held in the county jail until your punishment in the morning. Then, at dawn, you shall hang by the neck until you're dead, dead, _dead._"

"Great," sobbed Nova. "I've just received a death sentence from some drunken dirtbag! Isn't there any way to appeal your sentence in a more professional court of law?"

"Around here, I _am the law_, honey. No charge for the trim I gave you. Take her away, boys. County jail."

A crying Nova kicked and screamed as she was hauled up out of the chair. Near Cha'rif, Wildstar tried to escape. There was a tussle, in which Wildstar swore that Cha'rif actually helped him by kicking at a few of their guards. But, the deputies forced them both into submission.

"Derek!" cried Nova. "You've got to find a way out of this! They're going to hang me in the morning! And probably you too, _koibito_!" Then, she whistled at Derek and drew a finger against her throat while patting her purse.

He knew what the signal meant: _Get the tape and get back to the ship. Don't worry about me!_

Captain Wildstar struggled until one of the deputies knocked him silly by slamming him in the back of the head with a gun butt.

"Now, Captain Wildstar, for your trial," said Butler.

* * *

Later on, Nova sat alone and depressed in a cold, uninviting jail cell. The denizens of Gun Frontier were apparently having a loud hoe-down of some kind out there to celebrate her death sentence as well as Derek's. Guns were going off, people were cheering, and weird muffled hoof beats (or paw beats?) from some sort of animals they were riding like horses resounded up and down the dirt-covered main street.

_I never should have come here,_ thought Nova. _Or we should have brought a Marine squad down with us. All because of some drunks, we're going to die in the morning. Maybe if Derek hadn't insisted we split up in that saloon, we could have made our escape...together. Why does he always have to be so chivalrous? We ended up having to fight together anyway._

She heard a whistle outside. "Hmmh?" she said.

The low whistle came again. "What are you doing out there? You're not Derek; I saw them put him in the other side of this jail." she said as she peered out the barred window.

"I'm not Derek," laughed a high voice. "This is Tochiro. I'm doing some nighttime recon work."

"Good thing you're here. Got a file so I can get out? Or a hacksaw? If I work on these bars enough, I can get out and get back to my ship. I'm halfway good at climbing out windows."

"Sorry, hon. Left my tools back on the _Arcadia_."

"Well, then, can't your people get us out tonight? Could you call the _Argo_ for us?"

"We have something planned for the morning. We're gonna be a little sneaky about this until the right time, so, gotta run."

"Wait!" said Nova. "Can you get a message to Derek for me?"

"What kind of message."

"Tell him I'm mad at him but I still love him!"

"I'll try," laughed Tochiro. "Gotta run!"

_Well, this makes me feel a little better_, thought Nova. _Hope they can do something_.

* * *

**V. HANG 'EM HIGH!**

**Planet Heavy Melder**

**About 60,000 lightyears away from Earth**

**Village**** of Gun**** Frontier**

**The Hanging Tree**

**Thursday February 18, 2202**

**0510 Hours Space time (Earthtime)**

**(About 6 AM Local Planetary Time)**

* * *

It was almost dawn over Gun Frontier.

The local yahoos had already gathered at the Hanging Tree to see the morning's entertainment.

Derek Wildstar rode in the wagon in sullen silence. He had been blindfolded, stripped of his shirt, and he had his arms tied behind his back.

He was tied to back-to-back to Nova. She had been silent except for sobs, but he was able to recognize her by her warmth, feel, and perfume. From what he could feel of her, he could tell that they had stripped her of her jeans and sandals for her final appearance alive in this world; she would hang with nothing on but her bodysuit; and he knew how little of her backside the dance leotard covered. He felt something hard in his back, and he guessed that she had also been handcuffed behind her back.

"I wish there was something I could do to get us out of this, Nova."

"You can't, so what's the use?" she sobbed, depressed all over again. _No sign of those pirates or the rest of the Star Force. Guess we're dead_, she thought. "You shouldn't have let them split us up last night at the saloon. If so, you could've helped Emeraldas and I."

"You said you didn't want to be rescued!"

"Oh, some sympathy _you_ give," snapped Nova. "We're about to die and you're yelling at me. What's the use? I'll finish berating you on the other side!"

"Hey lovebirds, don't y'all argue too much now," laughed a loutish deputy. "Ya keep that crap up, you two pirate-lovin' freaks can argue all ya want in Hell!"

The wagon stopped. The _Eqqua_ (horse-like animals with paws instead of hooves) snorted and beat their paws on the dusty ground.

"Nova," said Derek in a broken voice.

"What?" said Nova in a half-annoyed, half-sad voice.

"Nova, I don't want our last words together in this life to be part of an argument. I love you too much for that, and I'm sorry that I agreed to that Harlock's plan in the saloon. You're right. We should have stayed together. He's the one...we ought to be mad at...not each other...as we're about to hang."

"Are you really sorry?" said Nova.

"Are you blindfolded, too?"

"Yeah."

"Then you can't see me nod my head, so I'll say it. Nova, I'm sorry. And I love you, _tenshi_!"

"Derek...I'm sorry, too. And I LOVE YOU, AKACHAN!" she cried in a desperate voice. "Oh, God, please let us GO!"

The crowd laughed. "Oh, shoot, the little lady's a dramatist!"

"Guy needs a last haircut!"

"Butler gave him one."

"No wonder he looks like he still needs one. Hizzoner must've been drunk, as usual!"

"Is he really a guy?" yelled someone else. The crowd laughed like crazy.

Derek and Nova were made to climb up on rough barrels as the crowd laughed. Derek felt nothing because of his boots, but he could guess that poor Nova was probably feeling painful splinters in her delicate bare feet about now.

"One word for the padre!" said Judge Shamus Butler. Nova shivered with disgust at that old, wheezy voice, even though she couldn't see its owner through her blindfold. _Hanging judge_, she thought miserably. _Why don't you go straight to hell? All I did was sat down for some drinks with Derek and tried to help out a woman pirate and her boyfriend who had a bloody face_. _Speaking of her, where are you, Tochiro? You said you were going to save me! You promised it last night through the window of that jail._

"Hello, I am Father McCaffrey of the Orange Catholic denomination. Have you any last requests, gentlebeings?"

"Yeah," said Derek. "Get me off this stinking barrel!"

The crowd guffawed at that. Through her tears, even Nova smiled_. Fighter to the end, aren't you, love? God bless you and your adorable loud mouth! Too bad I'll never hear your voice again soon...oh, God!_

"Sorry, no can do. Your death warrant is signed, Derek Wildstar. And there's no appeal," said McCaffrey. "You, my lady?'

"Take off this blindfold!" cried Nova. "I want to see my husband one last time before you lynch me!"

"Can't do that either, hon. Sorry. Can't let the world see you hanging there with those pretty eyes staring out at nothing, huh?"

"Don't we get _buried_?" cried Nova.

"Nope. You hang there 'til the buzzards eat ya up," said the priest. Overhead, as the sun came up, Nova heard the croaking of the scavenger birds who would soon be dining on her flesh in a few minutes.

"Some comfort you offer! What kind of priest are you? " yelled Derek.

"C'mon, thought ya losers would want a cigarette or somethin'," said McCaffrey. "I can do that."

"Don't want a smoke," said Nova. "I don't like the filthy things!"

"Yeah, me neither," said Derek as he heard someone coming up behind his barrel. Then, he felt the noose going against his neck. "Looks like this is it. I wonder if Venture can carry on the mission?"

"I hope so, Derek, even though we won't be here to see it," said Nova.

"Tie their legs," said one guy as they put the noose on Nova's slender neck.

"I will," said a rough voice whose owner had a rough beard that rubbed against the nape of Nova's neck. He undid Nova's handcuffs and roughly began pulling on her arms. "Gotta get girly-pants here ready first."

"Hey, you!" Nova said. "What are you _doing_?" Then, she gasped as the loutish man put his hands on her and gave her a kiss while holding her disgustingly close. The crowd suddenly applauded and blew wolf whistles and catcalls.

Nova went up on her toes, ready to kick her tormentor right in the crotch.

"Uh-uh," said the bearded man. "name's Brent, by the way, baby. You do that, and you'll just come right off the barrels and strangle yerself, hon," said the sheriff's deputy. "Damn, yer cute. Almost too cute ta hang. Wanna come home with me tonight?"

Derek struggled against the men who were tying his ankles as they pulled off his boots. _You fools,_ he thought. _I don't care if I'm gonna die! I'm gonna stop this! At least let her die in peace on that rope, you morons!_

"Make him stop kicking," yelled one deputy.

"Hold still," said another lumpish man. "You ain't dyin' with your boots on, bro."

A minute later, Derek felt the splinters in his feet as he also stood ready to leave this world barefoot.

In the meantime, Brent kissed Nova again. She glared at him and spat on him after he broke the kiss. The crowd cheered yet again. Brent then said. "Tie her ankles and kick the barrels out from under her soon as you're done. She'll twitch real good like that!"

Derek was glad he was blindfolded. He did not want his last sight to be of Nova hanging dead with a broken neck on the end of a rope. He heard Nova snuffling. "What is it?"

"Derek, I'm clearing my nose, and my tears, and I'm smiling!"

"Why's that?"

"I don't want to be crying any more when I see the Lord's Face for the first time," said Nova. "I want to greet Him with a smile. Fitting, I guess. Do your feet hurt?"

"Yeah. These barrels are horrible. They just took my boots."

"Too bad we can't play footsie to make it feel better," said Nova with a sad smile under her blindfold.

"Why are ya smilin', baby?" said Brent in her ear.

"Because soon my troubles will be over, unlike _yours_!" said Nova in a defiant voice. "Love you, Derek! See ya later!"

"You too, Nova," said Derek as he smiled through his tears.

The judge stood ready to kick away Nova's barrels when a dust cloud appeared down the road.

"Huh?" he said.

"Maybe it's a sandstorm," said McCaffrey.

"Maybe it's a herd o' elephants," said some drunk in the crowd.

"Maybe it's lots of tumbleweed," said Marshal Nishimoto. "Nothing will interrupt this hanging! All right, kick out the woman's..."

Suddenly, a vision in red and black flew out of the dust cloud and raised her hand.

Nova's rope was severed with one shot. A confused Nova fell alive and well into a set of waiting arms.

A second shot rang out, and a vision all in blue and black caught Derek Wildstar and picked him up like a child in very strong arms.

"Didn't Emeraldas _tell_ you we were coming?" said a deep voice. Wildstar felt his blindfold being pulled away and he found himself looking up at a face framed in more dark hair than his own. A face under a cowboy hat with an eyepatch and a scar.

"Harlock!" said a confused Derek. "What about...?"

"Right here!" cried Nova. Her blindfold had just been torn off, too, and she was looking with surprise into the face of Emeraldas. The female pirate was both holding her in her arms and shielding her from the crowd (since she was rather exposed in only her bodysuit) with a fold of her cloak as she gently readjusted the back of the suit to cover her up again. Nova whispered something to Emeraldas that Derek couldn't hear.

The tough pirate nodded sympathetically, smoothing down Nova's bangs and kissing her on the forehead. "I'll help you fix this," she said in a low, soft voice that none of the townsfolk heard. _None of these scum deserve to hear a word of sympathy from the lips of Emeraldas_, she thought with a snarl. _Only my forebear does. I will speak that way to family, and help guard the honor of a fellow woman. Not to these pieces of human trash!_

"She told me that two of you were pawing at her and kissing her," said Emeraldas as the dust crowd cleared and the townsfolk found themselves staring at a "posse" of over a hundred; most of the combined crews of the _Arcadia_ and the _Queen Emeraldas. _Every last pirate was armed and ready to massacre the loutish townsmen if need be.

Derek wondered, _If__ these are the crews of their ships, where's their ships? And did they call Venture for backup? It looks like we outnumber them for the moment, but how many of them are there in this town? What if the rest of them come out with their own posse? Then how screwed are we?_

"Which one of you men _was_ it?" demanded Emeraldas in a ringing, stern voice as she gently cut Nova's wrists loose while being covered by three members of her crew.

"Uh...it was me," said the bearded deputy. "I was at her. Ain't she cute? Ah couldn't resist!"

"SHUT UP!" snapped Emeraldas. "Tell my friend your name," demanded Emeraldas as several men in the crowd undid their weapons.

"Keep your weapons sheathed," demanded Harlock after cutting Derek's bonds and handing him a cosmo-gun. "Otherwise, all of you 'honorable men' shall die." At that, he undid his cutlass and pointed it at the Marshal. Captain Wildstar stood side-by-side with Harlock, followed by Tochiro, who raised the same then-new cosmo-gun that would someday belong to a young man who rode the intergalactic rails.

The deputy knelt in the dust to beg for mercy. Nova knelt in the red sand beside Emeraldas, rubbing her wrists and ankles to restore the circulation. A moment later, she stood. Her hands and feet ached with pins and needles, but she was alive.

Emeraldas kicked the bearded man in the face with a booted foot. "Your name," she demanded. "Tell Lieutenant Nova Wildstar here your name."

"Lieutenant?" he said.

"Yes, the woman that you manhandled," snapped Nova.

"Ma'am," he said in a trembling voice to a suddenly queenly Nova as she took off her hangman's noose and threw it and her blindfold in the dirt beside the man, drawing herself up to her full height as she stood there with nothing on but her bodysuit and wedding band. "My name is Brent MacCaver. Intercede with Emeraldas for me, Nova! Ya look like a nice girl! I was only doin' mah job!"

"I am neither nice nor a girl," said Nova as she decided to both emulate Emeraldas' dignity, and exercise her own, ignoring the tears that ran down her cheeks. Emeraldas tossed Nova a cosmo-gun as the crowd oohed and ahhed. "I am a _very_ outraged woman!" barked Nova as she shivered at the memory of his loutish kisses. She felt she would need to have her face washed afterwards, preferably by Derek. "And who took the rest of my things? Show yourself!"

The crowd muttered. Only a few of these fools had weapons. They were very frightened of these grim pirates, the two pirate captains, the first mate of the _Arcadia_, the Captain of the _Argo_, and most of all, at the grim, slender woman holding a gun on one of their deputies.

"It was me," said Sancho. "Name's Sancho Juarez, ma'am. Here's your clothes," he said as he laid the rest of Nova's clothing, i.e., her, jeans, sandals and purse before her like an offering to a merciless goddess of destruction.

"Where are my husband's clothes?" demanded Nova as she held the gun on the two men in a proud two-handed combat stance. "He's half-naked, too, and this sun is strong. My poor man will get sunburned!"

"The Marshal has them," said Sancho.

"Get up here, Nishimoto," demanded Nova in a voice as if she was talking to a rowdy Space Marine. "Give those to my husband."

The previously arrogant Marshal nodded and handed Derek his boots, socks, and shirt.

Nova then looked at Brent. "Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

He shook his head.

"Didn't think so," said Nova. "Well, then, goodbye..." Nova smiled quietly and pulled the trigger.

The gun rang out. Brent lay dead.

Before Marshal Nishimoto could react, Nova took him out with a lethal shot through the heart. As the corrupt Marshal lay dead, Nova nodded once to Derek. The crowd murmured again. Both Derek and Nova put down their guns, and then they lost their reserve and ran weeping into each other's arms in an unashamed embrace.

Emeraldas picked up Nova's things. "She's shaking; help her into these," said Emeraldas in a quiet voice. "Don't worry about these scum. Tochiro, Harlock and I have arranged for backup. Our plan isn't finished yet. And we're sorry we couldn't act sooner. We needed the morning light and all of them in one place."

"So you people let the "hanging" go on to trap them," said Derek as he helped Nova step into her jeans.

"Yes," said Emeraldas as Nova then put Derek's shirt back on him with a last kiss on his chest before she buttoned it up.

"We're sorry we thought ill of you," said Nova as she pulled on her jeans as rapidly as she could to cover herself up. She thought that much exposure was acceptable for dancing, gymnastics, or sunning herself, but not otherwise.

"Had I been in your shoes, I might have thought ill of you, too," said Emeraldas as Nova stepped back into her sandals and secured the straps at the backs of her heels. In a moment, Derek was fully dressed, too. Nova gave Emeraldas her weapon back and then threw her purse back over her shoulder. She reached into it and was shocked to find her astro-automatic still there. The young woman then drew it and pointed it at the crowd.

From out of the saloons, feed houses, and livery stables of Gun Frontier, more men (and a few women) emerged. The men had cosmo-guns, projectile weapons, even bows and arrows.

They were led by Sylvia and another bearded man.

"You see, Marshal, I raised a little posse overnight to help you out," said Sylvia.

"You again?" cried Nova.

"Yeah. It's me," laughed Sylvia. "Let's see how brave you are this time, you two stupid people."

"We're not stupid," said Derek in a low voice. "We just killed two of your friends, including your Marshal."

"You won't just hang for that, you'll be hung, drawn, and quartered, both of ya!" laughed Sylvia. "After I collect my bounty from the Rikashans, of course. In this little fracas, I helped free their leader Cha'rif. He is now on his way back to his ship!"

"You pirates think you're hot you-know-what, dont'cha?" growled the bearded man. "What a bunch. Your psycho leader in the black hat, his ugly associate..."

"I am NOT ugly!" yelled Tochiro as Emeraldas put an affectionate arm around the man she now loved in place of her lost, but well-remembered love, the descendant of this man. This Tochiro was a little odd, but it was sort of like having her great love back, although not the same.

"The kid, his scrawny flat-chested woman..."

"I beg your _pardon!_" snapped Nova.

"And you, ya psycho pirate queen...ya…"

Emeraldas fired with her cutlass, blowing the man's brains out. "I apologize. He was getting tiresome," she said in a cold, haughty voice. "Anyone else?"

Sylvia blew a small whistle, and the rest of the town ran up, with pitchforks, sticks, staves, and weapons of every other sort. "All right!" yelled Judge Butler. "You're outnumbered! A hundred of you jackasses against five hundred of us! What other arguments do you have, Harlock?" demanded Butler. "Got any way to stop us from collecting that two million dollar bounty on your tails?" he said as Nova, Derek, and the others pivoted on their heels to turn their weapons on the loutish frontier crowd.

"This," said Captain Harlock. He raised his cutlass straight into the air and fired once. The shot went off, echoing into the wind as it bounced off the rocky mesas around Gun Frontier.

A mighty roar came up on the wind a moment later as if in answer to Harlock's shot. One flying black speck converged on the town from one direction, while a second came from another direction, and the third from yet another direction.

Derek whipped his head around. A dark blue ship like a huge cross between a galleon and a space battleship roared up from the south, with a skull and crossbones flying at its jack. From the north came a graceful, huge blue and red ship that resembled a huge dirigible with a skull and crossbones at the nose and a sailing ship for a gondola.

Finally, from the east, came a silhouette that Derek was overjoyed to see. Nova ran up to him, cuddled him, and smiled as a huge, over two-hundred year old clipper bow appeared, trailing the most legendary and the most dreaded of these three greatly feared space battleships. His ship, the _Argo_, had finally returned. And, Venture and Dash were turning her main guns on the town.

People ran and scattered. Sylvia looked up in fright.

"I think you can see we've got bigger guns that you do," said Captain Wildstar.

"You...guns...ship?"

"Our ship," said Nova with pride. "I'm her radar officer and living group officer. This man here, my husband, is her Captain."

"Uh...I'm sorry for all those things I said," laughed Sylvia as she stared up at those huge main guns. "I...I think we can forget that bounty, too."

"Good," said Captain Wildstar. "You have exactly five minutes to get your silly little butt out of my sight!"

"Uh...sure," laughed Sylvia. She giggled nervously and ran off. "Bye! Maybe I can work for you sometime?"

"Fat chance!" said Nova. She then threw a silver piece at the bounty hunter. It was a one-hundred credit Federal Sovereign; a newly minted silver piece from her time intended for collectors. Nova carried a few of the heavy silver dollar-like coins for good luck.

"That's for a new dress, Sylvia. Yours is starting to look a little tattered," smiled Nova.

"See you later, funny girl," said Sylvia with a wink as she slung her battleax over her shoulder. "Maybe we can talk fashion sometime. You're sorta cute."

At that, she ran off.

"Wannabe," smiled Nova.

"Why do I have the feeling you just made a new friend?" smiled Derek.

"Oh, you be _quiet_," she replied. Nova stared fascinated while the _Argo's_ turrets changed position slightly; she had never seen the gun turrets moving from outside the mighty ship before. Then, the _Arcadia__'s_ massive turrets did likewise and gunpoint after gunpoint opened up on the gondola of the _Queen Emeraldas_.

Harlock nodded to Derek, and he and Nova ran up to stand beside him, Emeraldas, and Tochiro on an abandoned wagon in the middle of the street.

"You tell them" said Harlock to Wildstar. "Then, you can take the information we gave you and leave."

Nova looked in her purse. "The data capsule's still here. Good!"

"Thanks," said Derek. Captain Wildstar spoke up and said. "I am Earth Federation Captain Derek Wildstar, Captain of the space battleship _Argo_, which is facing you from the east. My ship, formerly known as the _Yamato_, has her guns trained on this town, just like the _Arcadia_and the _Queen Emeraldas_ do. Grant us safe passage back to our ships and a safe _bon voyage_ or they open fire and take all of you to the next life with us if you choose to harm us. You have one minute to decide, ladies and gentlemen," barked Derek. "What will it be?"

"Uh...we'll let you go," laughed Judge Butler. "Really. I'll just cross those there death sentences outta mah book. Free haircuts for both of ya if'n ya ever come this way again."

"Don't think so," said Derek. "Oh. As for the rest of you..."

Judge Butler looked on in terror as Derek suddenly drew his weapon, got a bead on Butler, and fired.

"...you can elect a new judge. This man's too corrupt for words."

Unexpectedly, the crowd cheered. "Elect him our new judge!"

"Make his cute girlfriend the new Marshal."

"Thanks, but no thanks," said Nova. "We have _things_ to do. Please give us a better reception if we ever come back."

In the meantime, Captain Wildstar had dug in Nova's purse, and found the communicator. "This is Wildstar," he said. "I need to talk to Venture."

After a long pause, Mark's voice came over the speaker. "Hey...glad to hear from you. What took you so long? Are you both all right?"

"Uh...we got a little tied up, Mark," said Derek while Nova giggled softly beside him. "We're both all right, but please tell Doctor Sane to have some aloe vera lotion and liniment ready. We need to give each other a real good rubdown later on. We're a little bruised up and we have some rope burns. Ready to do some flying?"

"Damn straight I am," laughed Venture.

"Good. See you back on the _Argo_. Captain Wildstar out."

Wildstar then turned to Harlock. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," he said.

"If we ever find any other Earthmen who might still be in Gamilon work camps like you were, Harlock, well...let's just say I have a little influence with the Leader of Gamilon, now. We're no longer at war, and they've become allies of ours in this battle with the Rikashans."

"Speaking of them," said Harlock. "When you leave, follow the _Arcadia_. I know where his fleet is, and in case you need some backup..."

"Thanks."

Not far away, Tochiro and Emeraldas were kissing each other goodbye. "I wish I could stay," she said softly. "I have other business."

"Where?"

"In the night, I just heard from my sister. I have to leave and follow Three-Nine here in my own time. Since we said our respects at the grave of the man I had a child with back at the wreck of the _Deathshadow_ last night, I'm afraid I must part from you, his adorable, funny ancestor. We'll meet again someday. I'm sure of it."

"How will you know where to find me, Emeraldas?" sniffed Tochiro. On his shoulder, his long-necked bird trilled mournfully.

"All roads meet here, Tochiro," said Emeraldas. "I always found him; I can always find you. Farewell until we meet again."

She gave him a kiss. Then, she whispered, "Wonderful night we had last night, wasn't it?"

"Yeah," he sniffed.

"Tochiro, you definitely do not have a small sword," said Emeraldas with a smile and a wink. "Goodbye, love."

She tucked his poncho around him and then turned and walked away, out of his life, free to again follow her own eternal destiny.

"Time for us to go, too," said Harlock. "You take care of him, all right, Nova?"

"I will," said Nova. "But why are you so concerned about Derek? How did you meet him when he was little?"

"Alex Wildstar and I were always close, when we got together in our youth. Same with Derek. It tends to be that way, with second cousins."

Captain Wildstar's mouth fell open. "Second cousins?"

"Do you think the whole family was on the Miura Peninsula when the bomb hit?" said Harlock. "The last I saw you was when the nuns said you were dying at Saint Anselm's Orphanage after your parents died. You were too out of it to recognize me. They told me they had just baptized you to make sure you'd go to Heaven, or something like that. Amazing that you recovered. We might meet again after this, we may not. And watch out for your Uncle Kazuo, too. The scumbag, unfortunately, is still alive."

"You...Alex...even my damn uncle?" sniffed Derek.

"You'll meet us once in a blue moon," said Harlock. He put his hands in Nova's "She's your family now. For God sakes, look out for this young lady. She's really somebody special." Harlock looked up, smiled, and flipped a salute as the _Queen Emeraldas_ turned and left.

"Yeah! And she patched me up good, too!" laughed Tochiro. "Hey, Nova...if you weren't taken..."

"Shut up," she snapped back, but with a good-natured smile on her face. Then, she gave him a hug. "You take care, Tochiro. You're kind of cute yourself."

Harlock then gave Derek a quick pat on the shoulder, quickly withdrawing his hand. "When you see your _nissan_ on Iscandar, tell him Harlock says hello."

"I will, Harlock. Thanks for all you've done."

"We're not out of this yet," said Harlock. "Before we go, after we're out, I'll flash the _Arcadia__'s_ navigational lights. That'll be my way of saying goodbye."

"Thanks," said Derek. Then, he held Nova while Harlock and Tochiro turned around and disappeared together with a jingling of spurs.

"What a pair," said Nova. "I wonder how they met?"

"Long story, I'd guess," said Derek. "Nova, let's find our ship and go. We have a mission."

"Right."

Then, a Gun Frontier resident came up with a pair of _Equua_. "Thanks for getting rid of Judge Shamus Butler and Marshal Nishimoto, guys. We shoulda never elected those creeps. Little loan for you two so you don't have to walk out to where your ship is. And we're sorry about the way we treated you. They made us do it. The black one's for you, Captain, the roan one is for her."

"Uhh..." said Derek. He looked at Nova, very embarrassed. "I don't know the first thing about riding a horse...or whatever kind of thing this is."

"I do," said Nova. "It's really pretty easy."

"Uh...how do I tell him to go and stop?" Derek looked at the snorting black stallion with apprehension.

Nova got a foot in the stirrup and jumped up onto her _equua_. "Get on the same way I did. Watch me pull on the reins with this one." Nova's _equua_ whinnied, pawing the ground with one of her slender front paws, which looked somewhat feline.

"Okay. I'll try it," signed Derek. "Now, what do I do?"

"Follow me!" laughed Nova. She shook the reins, and her _equua_ took off on a slow canter. Soon, Derek followed, praying that he didn't fall off this...thing.

* * *

"Good girl," said Nova in a soothing voice a few minutes later. She fed her _equua_ a slightly dry but still tasty apple slice as she stood beside it. "Now you go back to your master, hear?"

The female _equua _snorted happily. It seemed that Nova had made yet another friend. Derek looked quite a bit more warily at his mount. The steed had gotten him here, and had not thrown him, but he didn't seem to be very nice about it. It seemed that the _equua _could smell a tenderfoot from ten kilometers off. Still, the steed had something of a sense of humor; he chewed a little on Derek's collar before he left. The chewing (and Derek's annoyed reaction) drew a giggle from Nova.

"You can have these nags," said Derek. "Give me my fighter any day. Or a fast car."

"Some things are an acquired taste, I guess," sighed Nova. "You wanna fly this time?"

"Yeah, guess I will," he said as they got into the boat together. "Got that data cartridge?"

Nova nodded.

"Well, let's go then." he said as he closed the cockpit on the recon boat. "Take off!"

The boat started up and then lifted off into the sky of Heavy Melder. Derek flew over Gun Frontier, muttered, "It looks a hell of a lot better from up here," and then flew off towards the _Argo_. Since his ship was hanging low over the town, it was a short flight home.

* * *

In the Captain's quarters, a few minutes later, Captain Wildstar thumbed a control and spoke to Venture on the bridge while he zipped his Star Force uniform shirt up.

"We have the course data, Mark," said Derek.

"Where is it?"

"Nova's uploading it from up here," he said, looking on while Nova punched buttons with one hand and zipped up one of her yellow service boots up with the other. "It should be in the main directory in a minute."

"Good. Yamazaki's powering up the auxiliaries now," said Venture while a hum of power rang through the ship. "When are we holding Orion's service?"

"As soon as we're back on our way again, and away from the enemy," said Derek. "The enemy commander told me his fleet's not far away."

"When did he tell you that?"

"In the barbershop while you were on trial."

Nova nodded. "Yeah. That was quite a day."

"You're not mad at me...are you?"

Nova gave Derek a big hug. "I was; but not now. Let's get going, Skipper."

"I hate it when you call me that!"

"That's why I do it," said Nova with a smile. She chuckled and gave him a kiss.

"Thanks," said Derek.

* * *

**VI. A NARROW SCRAPE**

**Space Battleship _Argo_**

**The Vicinity of Planet Heavy Melder**

**About 60,000 lightyears away from Earth**

**Thursday February 18, 2202**

**0734 Hours Space Time (Earthtime)**

**(About 8:30 AM Local Planetary Time)**

* * *

Captain Wildstar and Nova ran onto the bridge together in full uniform a few minutes later.

"I have the course information laid in," said Venture. "Dash is still in Sickbay, Derek."

"The ship's computer system has been repaired," said Sandor. "We can warp as soon as we clear the area and arrive at the proper point."

"Good," said Derek as he sat down at the Combat station after shrugging off his peacoat and casting it over his chair. Since Dash was still laid up, he was obliged to sit down and take over the Combat station again for the time being. "Venture, let's take off."

"_Argo,_ take off," said Venture.

The engines lit up, and the _Argo_ roared up, disappearing from the sky of Heavy Melder in just a few short minutes.

"The _Arcadia__'s_ a megameter ahead of us," said Nova. "And...in front of the _Arcadia_...enemy fleet! Over two hundred ships! Range, fifty megameters, speed, twenty-two space knots. Full magnification on main screen!"

The screen lit up. "Rikashans," hissed Wildstar. "Seemed that Cha'rif was right; he's gonna continue his war."

Captain Wildstar had the alert klaxons on in a moment. "Open all guns. Target, the Rikashan fleet. However, we're not hitting them unless they hit us! We have to get out of here."

Homer spoke up. "Wildstar, Harlock says that he's readying his guns. He said he'll stand by and help out with us if needed."

"Thanks."

"I get the feeling his ship is a pretty good one to have on your side," said Yamazaki as Nova changed the view to a close-up of the _Arcadia_

"It is," said Wildstar. "It is."

A moment later, five space battleships and ten cruisers from the Rikashan fleet made a short warp. The ships warped in not far away from the _Argo_ and _Arcadia_and began to attack.

One of the ships was Cha'rif's own flagship, the _B'eoneraze_.

"Lord Baron?" asked Ter'garv on the ship's bridge. "Why are you stepping right in like this?"

"I want to finish them _myself,_" Cha'rif said as he stood on his bridge, a dark figure in grey and black as the orange instruments glowed off the Baron's dark brown hair. "You don't understand. I can't let anyone else do it. Fire all guns! Destroy both of those ships!"

"Yes, Baron," said Ter'garv. "All guns, ready...fire. target, both the _Argo_ and the _Arcadia_. Finish off both ships!"

Buzzers and klaxons went off throughout the _B'eoneraze _and throughout every other ship in the Rikashan task force.

"We're on target, Baron," said Ter'garv.

"Do it," said Cha'rif with a wicked smile.

The _Arcadia_ took hit after hit, first.

Tochiro shook his head and roared as he looked at the pirate galleon's status board.

"Port side engine hit! Aft radar transponder hit! Keel stabilizer fin hit!"

On the _Argo_, the news was much the same; also bad.

The forward part of the ship glowed with fire as the _Argo_ herself was again battered at close range.

"Wildstar! First forward turret hit! Bow hit!" said Sandor.

"Damage control measures in first turret effective," said Royster's voice on the PA a moment later. "Only one gun is out down here. We're getting the fires out!"

"Main guns on target," said Rosstowski. "We're ready to fire!"

"Good. Let's teach those guys a lesson," said Wildstar. "All guns, open fire!"

Wildstar thumbed the firing pickle, and the _Argo's _guns went off, beginning to avenge the insult of their enemy. A moment later, fire from the _Arcadia_ also roared out towards the Rikashan task force. Soon, both ships had claimed hits against the enemy, and one of the Rikashan battleships retired from the battle, too damaged to go on.

"Target correction, twenty-one degrees," said Rosstowski.

"Main guns, open fire!" roared Wildstar.

A withering broadside from the _Argo_ blew apart two Rikashan cruisers, even as one of the cruisers' final barrages damaged the _Argo_ again in her death-throes.

"Harlock!" said Kei Yuki aboard the _Arcadia_. "They're pinned down."

"Open a channel," said Harlock. "Do it now, please!"

"Yessir," said Yattaran.

"Enemy fleet, range, ten megameters," said Nova. "Derek, the latest fleet formation is being uploaded to you now."

"They're getting all around us," said Wildstar. "And it looks like the rest of their fleet is approaching from aft."

"Captain, a communication from Harlock," said Homer.

"Put it on the main screen," said Wildstar.

Harlock appeared on the _Argo's_ main screen a moment later. "Wildstar, what are you doing hanging around here? You know the way to go. Warp to that location and get out of here! I'll cover your escape!"

"But we can get them..."

"You're too damaged from that other battle you were in. One good hit, and you've had it!"

Aliscea came up beside Wildstar. "Unfortunately, he's right. We've been here long enough. We have to get to Iscandar."

"But..."

"Wildstar...I can cover you!" said Harlock. "I've been through worse than this. Now get out of here, and maybe someday we can share some wine on my ship in the Sea of Stars. I'll cover your escape. If I die today, at least I died in a manly fashion. Now, _go!_"

Harlock cut off and the screen went black.

"Very well," said Derek. _People are always dying for me,_ he thought. _My parents died...Knox died for me, Nova has risked her life for me several times, and now one of my last relatives...but, the mission is more important. Always the mission, isn't it?_

"Venture, warp us to that warp-out point on Harlock's chart. Then, warp us right to Balan from that point before the enemy notices.

"Yessir," said Derek. "Yamazaki. We need power for a warp!"

"Attention all hands!" barked Derek. "Prepare for two space warps. One will be short; the other will be long. We're going now!"

As the engine began to power up, Nova screamed, "Oh my God, _Derek!_"

She flicked the screen. The _Arcadia_ had taken hit after hit, and was smoking quite hard. But, a moment later, she fired her guns, and took out a Rikashan cruiser and then another battleship. She flashed her navigation lights once.

"Thirty seconds to warp!" said Venture.

_Like you said, when you flashed your navigation lights, that meant goodbye. Goodbye, Harlock, and good luck..._ thought Derek as he locked his warp harness. "Everyone secured for the warp?"

"All secured," said Venture.

"Good. WARP!" ordered Derek.

"Warp," repeated Venture.

On that note, the _Argo _vanished right as several bolts of Rikashan fire roared towards them. The enemy fire passed through nothing.

"Good show," said Harlock on the _Arcadia_. "Now, let's see if we can get out of here."

"Don't know if we can," said Tochiro. "What do we do?"

"Fight," smiled Harlock. "Fight on until the end. Fight and die like men."

And, with a grim smile, Harlock turned the _Arcadia__'s _wheel, and turned about to face his enemies...

* * *

**VII. OUT OF THE FIRE...**

**Space Battleship _Argo_**

**The Vicinity of Planet Balan**

**About 72,000 lightyears away from Earth**

**Thursday February 18, 2202**

**1325 Hours Space Time (Earthtime)**

* * *

The Star Force, now at peace, sat in orbit over Balan. Once the Gamilon Empire's citadel, the empty and quiet primitive world now held no threat for the _Argo_. It was, as a matter of fact, serving as a safe haven so that the _Argo_ and her crew could lick their wounds for a few hours, maybe a day or so, before the ship warped on it her quest for the Great Magellenic Cloud.

In her cabin, a tired Nova Wildstar sat in her husband's chair near the bunk, humming to herself as she tuned her guitar.

A knock came at the hatch. "Come in!" she called. "If you want the Captain, he's inspecting the rest of the damage to the ship."

"No, I want to talk to you a minute," said Holly Parsons' voice.

Holly came in, looking a bit piqued herself. "What are you doing back in those grungy civilian clothes?" Nova wore the same outfit; bodysuit, jeans, and sandals that she had worn on Gun Frontier. She had her guitar slung over one arm. Nova looked cute but mildly hippie-like. Parsons, on the other hand, wore her uniform and had her reddish-blonde hair in a ponytail tied with a green ribbon.

"I got permission to record myself doing a song that I plan to mix into a holography room tape," said Nova. "Of course, I'll change the face later on, but the rest will be me. It'll be of a wistful girl in a saloon singing a ballad. That's what I feel like right now."

"Sorry," said Holly as her smile faded. "Who'd we lose now?"

"Randy Parmon's dead," sighed Nova. "He took shrapnel in the engine room. Two of the Black Tigers are dead, too. So are three guys from the Mechanical Group. Derek is telling me that if we take more losses in Mechanical Group, I'd better learn how to solder so I can fix my own radar."

"How many wounded?"

"Five," said Nova. "Two we could save...the other three...we're not sure about. When do you plan on marrying Mark?" asked Nova.

"We were hoping on setting a date when we get back to Earth."

"I'd start setting that date if I were you. " Nova bowed her head. "I don't know how much time we have. We have some breathing space out here, but..."

"But what?"

Nova never got to finish, since the communicator bleeped. "Hey, you up there," said Derek. "Get down to the bridge ASAP."

"Derek, I'm in civilian clothes. I can't appear on the bridge like this."

"I gave you a waiver to make that tape, and I'll do it now, Nova. Desslok's waiting to appear on the main screen. He wants to talk to all of us."

"Desslok?" said Nova. "Any idea where he's transmitting from?"

"No. he's being quite mysterious about his whereabouts. Come down now."

"Yessir," said Nova. "C'mon, Holly."

Parsons nodded. They left together.

* * *

Nova and Holly ran on to the bridge a moment later. Homer raised an eyebrow at her attire, but she chose to ignore it.

"Good. We're all here," said Captain Wildstar. "Leader Desslok called up just now through the Gamilon relay satellite system. Part of it still exists, and he's giving us the necessary codes and passwords so we can use it to transmit back and forth to Earth while we use the proper encryption. He said there is something that he needed to tell us and that needed us to tell the Earth Defense Command before we head on to Iscandar. He said it's very important that we know this."

"Homer," said Derek after a pause. "Put him on."

Homer flicked the proper switches. A moment later, Desslok appeared on the _Argo's_ main screen.

"Wildstar," said Desslok. "It's good to see you again."

"I wish I could say the same," said Desslok in a low voice. "No...it's nothing _you've_ done. Thanks to our enemies, I have just had one of the darkest days of my life. Worse than the day that you and I fought at Gamilon, as a matter of fact. Thanks to the Rikashan Star Empire, as of today, the Gamilon race's greatest dream is finished. And you must know about the weapon they used to accomplish this...atrocity."

"Atrocity?" said Wildstar. "What sort of atrocity?"

"We discovered my race's home world of Galmania, also known as Garuman in another form of our language. I found many survivors there; survivors of our mother race. Our race had been enslaved by a race known as the Bolar Federation long after the ancestors of my people left Garuman and colonized Gamilon. We suspected long ago that something had happened to the Garuman when we didn't hear from them for many years. The location of Garuman itself became unclear; indeed, some of us thought that Garuman was actually Earth. That is one reason why we fought so hard to take Earth from you. As well as our need for a new home, of course. I was so certain that I would find Garuman that I formally bid Gamilon a farewell when I left. I also spoke with Starsha...and your brother. Suffice it to say..."

"Yes?"

"I would rather not get into that conversation," said Desslok. "Starsha and I were once...close. Very close. And she betrayed me. Of course, she felt I betrayed her with what I was doing to Earth at the time. But, the issue is Galmania. After travelling for quite a long time, we found Galmania, and her people. It appears that the Bolar Federation has either been overrun by or has signed an alliance with Rikasha. I am not sure which, and, I do not care. We began a battle to liberate Garuman. The first battles went well. The Bolar forces on the planet were routed, and the Garumans aided us with an overwhelming campaign of sabotage and behind-the-lines fighting that must have been planned for a long time. Some of the Garuman military leaders, men by the names of Keeling, Gaidel, Gustaf, and Histenberger...all good men...these men joined my General staff after coming through the lines to my flagship. For a day, for two days, we almost thought we had won. We thought that my Gamilon people would finally have a new home; their ancient home, back again! Liberated! Then..."

"Then what?" asked Wildstar, not liking the sound of this. Nova left her seat, looking up at Desslok with compassion and pity in her dark eyes. A similar look was on Aliscea's face. Even Venture was beginning to feel sorry for their former enemy.

"Rikashan reinforcements arrived," said Desslok in a bitter, acid voice. "A thousand ships. An immense starfleet. We fought hard; I destroyed three hundred ships myself with a well-timed hit from my Desslok Cannon. We also used S.M.I.T.E. to our advantage. We almost thought we had turned the tide..."

"Yes...?" whispered Nova. "Desslok, what happened?"

"Three ships appeared. Smallish Rikashan ships, I gather, of a type I had never seen before. Each of them had two missiles. There were a total of six missiles. Those six missiles were fired right at Garuman. We took scans of the missiles. I shall upload the data to you. It appears...the missiles were an advanced type of the anti-matter missiles the Cometines used. The missiles were fired. Two minutes later, this was the effect."

Desslok then ran footage of a massive green planet, covered with the lights of many cities. It was quite beautiful, in an eerie fashion. Then, small flashes appeared on the planet, and the flashes grew into horrible roses of fire. The fire spread across the planet, and then, the guts of the planet itself blew out in a fierce explosion. Debris flew out, along with a gas cloud. A roar filled the screen.

Then, a moment later, there were only asteroids, and silence. Nova looked up at the holocaust she had just witnessed and fell against Derek's console with a cry. "No. NO! Tell me we...didn't just see what we thought we saw!"

"You did see it," said Desslok as he reappeared with his lip trembling. "What you saw was the death of four billion people. The death of my homeworld. The death of our peoples' hopes. I am sending you this data for a reason."

"And that is?" said Derek as he tried to comfort a weeping Nova.

"Their ruler was there; leading their fleet. He is named Lord Zaden. He told me he serves Ekogaru. He sent me this message to transmit to you after he wiped out much of my fleet. I meant to ram his ship and take his life along with mine, but he ran before I could do so and avenge this dishonor. They ran like jackals. Do you care to see it?"

Derek nodded.

The image changed again. A fat man with one of those now-familiar orange faces looked down at the Star Force. He wore a white uniform, and drank from a goblet that he slopped over his uniform like a gross pig. Aliscea was nauseated by the very sight of him, and she squeezed Paul's hand very hard.

"This is a message to the Earth Federation; friends of this stinking Gamilon I just defeated. Specifically, this is for Captain Derek Wildstar, who should learn to keep his little snotty nose out of Rikasha's business. Wildstar. As you know, we have begun a _ji'had_ against your people. In a few weeks, months, we can't say when; we will invade your Earth. Our War God desires this. We will plunder, take slaves, take resources, kill your military, and bring you under our heel as a sacrifice for our God. If you resist too hard, and refuse our command to surrender, we have more missiles like these just waiting to use on your Earth. It is a new weapon we have built just for recalcitrant worlds like yours. If you resist us too much, and our War God, your Dark Lord, so-called...little can your comprehend His wisdom, glory, power and compassion, we shall use these missiles on your Earth. Just thought you should know."

"Madman," whispered Derek through his tears as the message ended and Desslok came up.

"My sentiments exactly, Derek," said Desslok. The crew looked up at him in shock. It was the first time he had ever called Wildstar by his first name in a communication. "I now will head back to our provisional capital to re-gather our forces. We will meet again at Iscandar in a few days. Will you be there?"

"Desslok...we'll be there in four days."

"Excellent. Please transmit the data I gave you to Earth. That is why I gave you access to what remains of our relay net system. They must know of the doom that awaits them. Astrena has led me to understand that Aliscea means to confront our friend the Dark Lord there at Iscandar?"

"I so, Desslok. He will come there soon," said Aliscea. "I feel his vile presence. His hate drives these Rikashans."

"I can understand that. That is why he must be eradicated. Now, please pardon me while I nurse my...grief. We shall meet again, Wildstar."

At that, the screen went dark.

"Guys," said Derek. "Before I send this data to Earth...we have a lot to talk about..."

**_TO BE CONTINUED WITH ACT SEVEN--"ARRIVAL AT THE GREAT MAGELLENIC CLOUD"_**

* * *

**_THERE ARE NOW 98 DAYS TO THE ARRIVAL OF EKOGARU IN EARTH'S SOLAR SYSTEM_**

* * *

**To return to the Introduction to the _Rikasha Incident _please click ****here**


	7. Chapter 7

* * *

**ALTERNATE TALES OF THE STAR FORCE**

**STAR BLAZERS---****RETURN TO THE GREAT MAGELLENIC CLOUD**

**Being the seventh part of THE RIKASHA INCIDENT--- BY: Frederick P. Kopetz**

* * *

**ACT SEVEN--ARRIVAL AT THE GREAT MAGELLENIC CLOUD**

**Star Blazers and Space Battleship Yamato is (c) 2003 by Voyager Entertainment and Leiji Matsumoto.**

* * *

**I. YVONA'S REBIRTH**

**The Technomugar Fortress**

**Joy Suite #66**

**Thursday February 18, 2202**

**1448 Hours Spacetime (Earthtime)**

* * *

In the Grand Technomugar Fortress, a coffin-like enclosure covered with multi-colored indicator lights began to open. First, it freed up a head; a female's head, one which had a very young-looking face framed by brown hair. Then, the two lower halves of the enclosure opened, and an unclad shapely female body was revealed. It looked perfect save for the presence of a small readout meter where the navel should have been.

The dark eyes opened, and the head stirred, shaking off the wetness on the new artificial skin. Yvona Josiah thus awoke to her new life.

"Greetings, Yvona," said Lord Ekogaru the Great.

"Greetings, your Lordship." She kissed his hand, feeling renewed and resplendent in her new power. "It is an honor to awaken in your presence."

She sat up, and two low-ranking Technomugar males appeared to towel her newly-minted body off. Another soon emerged with a black gown that went around her shoulders, covering but not quite concealing her nakedness. Her new feet stepped into black high-heeled open-toe mules.

Ekogaru himself took her hand. "These garments are decorative. You note I am in only a black robe at this moment."

"And what is the purpose of this ritual?"

"To complete a bond. Your are mine spiritually now. You shall soon be taken physically"

Ekogaru clapped his hands, and they stood together in his vast Audience chamber.

"You no longer need those," those Ekogaru. He made a gesture and Yvona's gown slid off her shoulders. Smiling, she stepped out of the gown and the slippers. Then, she was held close by Ekogaru. She was touched, caressed, pawed, and otherwise felt all over by his huge hands. To her surprise, the new body responded with an intensity she had never felt before as a mortal.

Yvona was soon forced to the floor. Then, she cried out, partly from passion...and partly from sheer pain.

_Oh, my God, he is so COLD..._thought Yvona. _He is COLD!_

* * *

**II. CREW DISCUSSION**

**Space Battleship _Argo_**

**The Vicinity of Planet Balan**

**About 72,000 lightyears away from Earth**

**Thursday February 18, 2202**

**1517 Hours Spacetime (Earthtime)**

* * *

"I take it," said Captain Derek Wildstar, "that this is a technical readout of one of those missiles that Desslok said was used to destroy Garuman?"

Wildstar looked down at the huge deck screen in the _Argo's_ Central Briefing Room. Sandor tapped at the readout with a pointer. "That's right. We just translated it from the Gamilon language."

"_Hyper-Radiation Antimatter Missile_," said Venture, reading off the translated title of the weapon. "Do we know how it works, yet?"

"Antimatter can be created by a nano-explosion that can be set off by a nuclear detonation," said Sandor. "What this device seems to do is use a hydrogen warhead charge to set off a small thermonuclear reaction that also creates radioactive gas. It would make a very nasty anti-ship weapon, particularly if equipped with an armor-piercing warhead. What this new variant seems to do is use that primer to set off a hyperspace engine that opens up a small naked singularity to an antimatter universe. That releases a huge surge of antimatter that reacts with the missile shell itself as well as with anything nearby to create an annihilating explosion. It looks like six of these were used to destroy Garuman's crust and mantle, leading to the destruction of the entire planet. Nasty weapon."

"Sounds like it was made in the forges of Hell itself," said Nova, who shivered even though she was back in her full Star Force uniform. "Who would build such a morbid thing?"

"Our enemies," said Dash. "These guys seem like a pretty sick bunch."

"You can say that again," said Angelique Hartcliffe, who was near the back of the circle of crewmembers. "Captain, shall I tell you about what I spotted while we were on patrol?"

"Go ahead," said Wildstar.

"Yessir," said Angie as she came to the center of the circle. "What I spotted was a Rikashan ship sitting about ten megameters away from us; for just a moment. Then, it warped out."

"What kind of ship was it?" asked Sandor.

"A small ship, sir. Like a scout ship."

"Then, they're trailing us," said Wildstar. "We'd better make another space warp. I have an idea. Nova, please go over to the main computer terminal. Have it pull up a three random values between one and 9,999. One of those figures will be the amount of lightyears that we warp today. Let's see them try to predict that."

"Yessir," she said with a salute. She walked over and pulled up a random number generation routine; a somewhat simple application. After a moment, she inputted the parameters that were needed, and let the computer work. The information that came up a moment later read:

**Set #1:**

7454, 9359, 4804

"There's three values," said Nova. "7454, 9359, and 4804. Which one of those should we go with?"

"9359," suggested Venture. "There's not much rhyme or reason to that particular value."

"All right," said Captain Wildstar. "After this meeting, we're warping exactly nine thousand, three hundred and fifty-nine lightyears away towards the Great Magellenic Cloud, of course. Let's see where that takes us. Make sure that there are no hazards we know of in the area, Venture. We don't want to warp straight into a black hole or something."

"Got it," said Mark.

"Okay, let's do that warp," said Wildstar. "Everyone, to your stations."

* * *

**LATER, Nearly 82,000 Lightyears Away From Earth...**

The meeting continued, with only the bridge officers, about two hours after the warp.

"We have twelve dead on the ship," said Doctor Sane. "We'll have to lay them to rest today."

"And we will," said Captain Wildstar. "This evening, after the dinner period, we'll gather on the deck for that funeral."

"The radiation count out here is higher than usual because we're close to a small star," said Sandor. "We'll have to use the old-style full spacesuits."

"Are you sure we have enough for the whole crew?" asked Venture.

"We keep them inventoried for emergencies," Sandor replied. "Since we've had casualties, we have more than enough."

"Doctor Sane, are all of the dead prepared?" asked Derek.

"Yes. They're encoffined in the morgue under cold storage."

"May I have a moment to say a private goodbye to Orion before the services?" asked Nova in a quiet voice.

"I don't see a problem," said Doctor Sane.

"Granted," said Derek.

"Thank you," said Nova. She returned to looking at her hands. Derek immediately guessed that she was depressed.

"Now that we have that taken care of, there's the matter of Lieutenant Bryan Hartcliffe's court-martial," said Derek. He tapped a pen against the table and sighed. "We had a panel picked, but since Orion can't be on it, now, we need to pick a replacement."

"What about picking out a new panel altogether?" asked Dash. "We could do it at random."

"Yeah. Every one of us could go in the pool," said Conroy.

"Does that apply even if we ahn't bridge officers?" asked Hardy.

Captain Wildstar nodded.

"Not a bad idea," said Parsons. Holly looked a good deal perkier than most of the crew at the moment. Wildstar guessed it was probably because of what had recently happened between her and Venture.

"What does everyone think?" asked Captain Wildstar.

"No objections," said Paul Rosstowski.

Aliscea just nodded. "Sounds good," said Homer. Venture gave a thumbs-up. Nova nodded once and returned to looking at her hands. Yamazaki said, "It works for me." Conroy said, "Sounds good for me, too." Hardy nodded, shaking his hair out of his eye for a moment.

"Okay," said Captain Wildstar. "IQ-9, come up here. Take my hat," he said, sliding his Captain's cap (which he didn't have on) over towards the robot. "With the exception of myself, Venture, and Aliscea, I'd like all of the rest of you to tear a piece of paper off your notepads and write your name on that paper. Fold it up and put it in the hat. Then, IQ-9 will shake the pieces, and draw names until we have three. The first three form the new Court-Martial board."

"Captain, do you still want me to be under consideration, in light of what we discussed before?" asked Nova.

"Yes. That doesn't mean you'll be drawn, or course. If you do get drawn, I know you'll make every effort to follow your orders and judge him only by the evidence. It's been a few days since that incident in the messhall, and I trust your judgment and ability as an officer, Nova."

"Okay, Derek," said Nova with a slight smile. She wrote her name on the paper and began to fold it. When the hat came by, she dropped the wad of paper in the hat and refused to look at it.

Finally, IQ-9 came over to Wildstar with the hat. "I'll hold it down so you can pick names. Can you reach it here?"

"I can," he said. "Thanks." Refusing to look, Derek stirred the wads of paper around. Then, he drew three pieces of paper at random.

After a long moment, Derek opened the pieces of paper. Sitting at the head of the table, he refused to look at the papers for a bit. "At random, again," said Captain Wildstar, "The first name I pick will be the Presiding Judge of the Court."

Derek picked up a piece of paper. "Senior Lieutenant Dash," he said. "Dash, you're on this court, and you're the chief judge."

"Okay, Wildstar," said Dash. "I'll see to it he gets a fair trial. It'll be an interesting exercise since I've never done this before."

"Thanks," said Derek. He then pulled up a second piece of paper. "Number two man on the Court is Senior Lieutenant Jefferson Hardy."

"Great," laughed Hardy. "Looks laike I'm a hanging judge." Everyone laughed but Nova and Derek. They just smiled and shook their heads. "Ah accept, Wildstah. Even though he was in my squadron, I'll just look at the evidence."

"Thanks," said Captain Wildstar. "Judge number three will be...Senior Lieutenant Nova Wildstar."

Nova let out a deep breath and said, "Why, God?" Everyone laughed at that one. She smiled at Derek, Mark, and then looked at IQ-9. "If you fixed this drawing, tinwit, I'll be _very_ upset."

"I am sorry, Nova. It was completely random. Please make sure your peacoat is clean. I hear that your locker is a mess."

"_Who talked_?" said Nova in an accusing tone. The crew laughed again. The laughter was so hearty that even Nova added a few giggles.

"Hey," said Dash. "At least being on this court won't be boring."

The crew applauded, and Venture asked. "Anything else?"

Homer's phone went off. "Yes? Okay. I'll tell him, Sergeant."

Homer hung up. "Captain Wildstar, the Commander's answering our message. He said it's good to hear from us again. Sergeant Miles says that she has him up on the main screen on the first bridge."

"Looks like we're dismissed, then," said Derek. "Okay, everyone, let's go and report."

* * *

On the first bridge, the crew saluted as the Commander turned around in his chair to face them.

"It's been a long time, Captain Wildstar," said Commander Singleton. "Are you still on your way towards Iscandar?"

"Yes. We're more than halfway," said Derek. "The Rikashans have been pursuing us constantly. We've lost some crewmembers, I'm afraid. Homer will send you a casualty list, along with copies of the letters you'll need to send to the families of the dead."

"I see. How is it you're communicating with us now?"

"We recently heard from Leader Desslok. Unfortunately, due to the war with Rikasha, his search for a new home has failed. The Rikashans just destroyed his ancestral homeworld of Garuman, where the Gamilon race originally came from. They used a new kind of missile to do it. As for how we're talking to you, you recall the part of the first Iscandar mission where the Gamilons gave us access to their relay satellite network to demoralize us?"

"I do. I take it they allowed you access again, but this time to send news to us here on Earth?"

"He did, sir."

"Desslok lost his ancestral homeworld?" mused Singleton. "I hope that this doesn't make the Gamilons a threat to us again in the future."

"I'm hoping the same thing, sir. How's things on Earth?"

The Commander sighed. "There have been several Rikashan attacks. Raids, mostly. We have one of our new _Andromedas_leaving soon as flagship of a special task group that I organized to scout the edge of the solar system to see if we can ascertain where they're coming from."

"Which one, sir?"

"The _Cassiopeia,_ under Commodore Hoshiyama's command. I am also detaching two battleships, a carrier, and several cruisers and destroyers. They will be leaving in the next few days. I hope they can find them before long; we can't spare twenty ships from our Fleet like that, Wildstar. Do you think Aliscea can stop the Fortress at Iscandar with aid from Starsha?"

"That's what we're hoping, sir," said Wildstar. "That's why we press on with our mission."

"Well, the best of luck to you," said the Commander. "I'll be expecting that information soon. You're dismissed."

Wildstar and the others saluted as the Commander cut off.

Doctor Bradford came up onto the bridge a moment later, crisp, cold, and efficient-looking in her lab coat. She was carrying a clipboard and studying figures.

"Oh, hello, there," said Wildstar. "I've never seen you up here before, Doctor. Is Doctor Sane all right?"

"He is. I was checking the regulations, and I found that we have to examine our brig prisoners every four days if they're confined for a long time. Doctor Sane is busy with the final preparations for the funeral, along with most of the nursing staff. I need to borrow Lieutenant Wildstar from you for a bit, Captain."

"Is this going to be a usual practice of yours, Doctor? The Lieutenant is on watch up here."

"I'm sorry, sir...but, Doctor Sane says I have to note the log. It's his orders."

"All right," said Captain Wildstar. "Nova, call Mister Voorhees up from the second bridge. Have him relieve you until you get back."

"Yessir," said Nova. She then began to call Voorhees. He reported in a minute.

"Yessir. I was wanted?" he said.

"Relieve Mrs. Wildstar. She has to do some...important...work with Doctor Bradford."

"Of course, sir," said Voorhees.

Nova got up. She turned to Derek and saluted. "Station secured, sir."

Derek returned the salute. "You'd better tell Doctor Sane I need to talk to him later," he muttered. "We don't need this except for real medical emergencies."

Nova noticed Bradford watching her and she just looked down quietly. Derek recognized it as a subtle "yes" from her.

"Dismissed." Captain Wildstar said a moment later.

Lieutenant Wildstar and Doctor Bradford left together.

* * *

Nova had just changed her uniform and stood in her regular nursing uniform; minidress and boots. "I'm ready, Doctor."

"Let me look at that. _Ten-hut_!" said Bradford.

Nova came to attention.

Bradford looked her over. "Hmm. Burn off those loose threads at your right pocket; starch that dress, and get those boots shined. You've got a terrible scuff on the right one, Nurse."

"I'm sorry, Doctor," said Nova. "The last time I had these on earlier today, I was helping pull people out of a damaged compartment down on Deck Number Three by Frame Number 266. It was a bit dirty down there."

"Okay; I'll not report you to Doctor Sane for now. Just get busy with that polish later on. Medkit ready?"

"Aye, aye, ma'am."

"Okay. Let's get going. You'll begin the exam, of course."

"Of course."

* * *

Bradford and Wildstar found the Rikashan prisoner to be remarkably cooperative, quiet, and even noble about his imprisonment

"Tell me about your homeworld, please," he said. "What's your planet Earth like?"

Nova said, "Well, Earth is cold in a few regions near the poles, temperate in most areas, and very hot near the equator. There are many oceans, lakes, and seas, many continents, but not as many people as one might think because of the war with Gamilon. In that war, they made Earth into a desert."

"Like Rikasha," he said. "My world is very dry, very hot, and water is a little hard to come by. People sell it there. Occassionally, poor people die because they can't afford any drinking water and can't get to a place where they can gather water on their own."

"How terrible," said Bradford quietly.

"How much of your Earth is water now?" asked the Rikashan.

"Seven eighths of the surface," said Bradford.

"I've heard of worlds like that," said the Rikashan. "Is it true that on such a world, there's enough water to crawl through like a sport?"

Bradford raised her eyebrows. Nova knew what he meant, though. "You mean swimming?"

"Is that your word for it? Tell me what it's like to swim."

"Very nice," said Nova. "You take off your regular clothes and put on a brief garment that can withstand the water; and then you jump in. It's nice on a hot day, when you need to cool off...even more fun when you do it with a friend or friends you can splash with."

"Splash?" said the Rikashan. "What's that?"

"There's so much water in a place where you swim that you can throw it at each other. I sort of like it when my husband does that when we swim together. It's fun."

"A planet where there's enough water to crawl in. Please teach me how to do that," said the Rikashan plaintively. "And please let me swim in the water. And...do women do that as well as men?"

Nova nodded, blushing a little. "Yes. Men and women wear...brief outfits. Sometimes, if they're lovers and they can find a place alone, they don't wear anything at all to swim in."

"Interesting. I'd love to see that...a planet where you don't worry about the sun's heat...a planet where there's enough water to play in. Am I all right?"

"You're fine, as far as we can tell," said Doctor Bradford. "We'll see you again in a few days."

"To both of you...thanks."

"You're welcome," said Nova with a smile.

Then, she and Bradford went in to see Hartcliffe.

"Mister Hartcliffe," said Nova. "We're here to look at you."

"I'm surprised," he said. "I heard through scuttlebutt that you didn't want to associate with me again, Nova."

"I didn't and I don't. But my oath and my job override my personal preferences. If you need to be examined and it's my job, I'll do it. If you heard anything else, it's because I was angry at you, and I do apologize."

"Oh, good. This'll be fun. Especially since I've had no...female companionship..."

"Hartcliffe, stop it," snapped Bradford. "We're professionals. We're not a dating service, we're not available, and if either of us were, I doubt we'd want to date _you_. Besides, aren't you married?"

Hartcliffe was about to retort with some comment, but Nova just cut him off. "Hold out your arm, Mister Hartcliffe. I need to check that blood pressure."

"Got it," he said. "How izzit?"

"Normal," said Nova. "Do you want to see Angie?"

"She hasn't been down here to visit."

"I'll ask her to come down and see you. She's not so angry now."

"Really?"

"Yes, really," said Nova. "Open your mouth. I need to look inside it," said Nova while she got a medical penlight. "Get ready for the popsicle stick. Give me a really good noise, now."

"Eeeeeeeeaaaaaaagggghhh," went Hartcliffe.

"His throat's normal. Doctor, you look at his eyes..."

Hartcliffe had a light shined into his eyes. "Normal," said Bradford.

The rest of the examination proceeded normally. Finally, Hartcliffe asked. "Any idea when me trial starts?"

Nova said, "Well, a new court-martial board has been picked, so they'll probably begin tomorrow."

"Why'd you have to pick a new board?"

"One of the members of the old board, Orion, just died in battle. That's why," said Nova.

"I see," said Hartcliffe.

"We're done," said Bradford.

Nova just nodded, and they left Hartcliffe alone in his cell.

* * *

A short while later, Nova changed back into her regular uniform and arrived back on the first bridge.

Aliscea came onto the bridge a few minutes later. "Captain Wildstar...is it possible for us to warp again today?"

"We were going to hold a funeral at nineteen hundred," said Wildstar. "Why do you ask?" he said, thinking he knew the answer.

"Ekogaru's power has just increased, if one can consider that possible. He is drawing even closer to Iscandar. It's vital that we get there as soon as possible."

"Can we push the ship again, Sandor?" asked Venture.

Sandor sat in silence. "These long, repeated warps are putting a strain on the engine and the warp mechanism, as well as on the structure of the _Argo_ herself. I guess we could warp at twenty hundred, after the funeral."

"Let's pull up another random value," suggested Nova. "That way, our course will be harder for the enemy to predict."

"Good idea," said Captain Wildstar. "You do that."

"Roger."

Nova ran the calculation, and the highest number that came up was 7,096.

"Can we do a 7,100 light-year warp?" asked Venture after Nova sent him the value.

"That's possible," said Sandor. "Can we do that at twenty hundred, Captain?"

Wildstar said, "Yes." He then made an announcement that they were going to warp at twenty hundred.

"It's almost dinner time," said Parsons. "Our reliefs should be up here soon for the next watch."

"Good," said Dash. "I'm hungry."

"Except for you, Dash," said Captain Wildstar. "You'll be on duty for the next watch as Officer of the Deck."

"Rats," he said as the others laughed.

* * *

A little later on, Nova left her quarters in the Captain's cabin, having put her white peacoat on over her gold uniform. Supplementing her uniform with her red ascot..._My Scarlet Scarf,_ thought Nova with a sad little grin, she went down the stairs towards the lift. A few minutes later, she arrived in the _Argo's_ hydroponic garden.

Doctor Sane found her there picking some flowers. "So, what are you doing?"

"Getting these for Orion. I'm going to visit him before dinner...and...pay my respects. We've been so rushed lately, I haven't really had time to do so."

"We haven't had time for a lot of things," said Sane. "I hope we can relax a little when we get to Iscandar. How close are we, anyway?"

"After we warp tonight, we'll be eighty-nine thousand light-years away from Earth. After they check the engine, they're talking about warping another twenty thousand light-years tomorrow. We might reach Iscandar sometime this weekend."

"And then we can relax a little? I've got my swimsuit ready, Nova."

"Maybe. Aliscea is expecting some kind of confrontation with Ekogaru. We'll have to see what happens. Although..." mused Nova. "Well, someone from Living Group said they put a request in to Mechanical Group to have a surfboard or two produced in the replicator. If that's the case, I might like to try it out."

"You know how to do that?"

"Yes, but not very well," laughed Nova. "I usually fall off after about thirty seconds. I once sent a picture that Natalie took of me on a surfboard to Derek on his long patrol last year. Judging from the letter he sent back to me, he thought it was cute."

"Were you on the board, or falling off?" said Sane.

"_On_ it. It wouldn't have made a graceful picture if I was going "_aaaaaaa__"_ and falling off the board."

Dr. Sane smiled. "Those flowers are for...?"

"Orion. I'm going to see him for one last time before we have the funeral. He was always so nice to me..."

"Well..." sighed Doctor Sane. "Want me there with you?"

"No. It's best if I do this...alone. I don't even want Derek there. He knows what I'm doing, but..."

"I see." He gave Nova a hug. "Come back to see me if you need to talk any more."

"Thanks," said Nova. She gathered her wits up about her and left.

* * *

The _Argo's_ morgue was a part of Sickbay...a room kept cold, like a freezer, for the preservation of the dead; thus, Nova's extra clothing. Still, her breath blew cold about her as she walked in.

_I never liked this room much,_ she thought. _I know; Captain Avatar told us to remember the dead and move on, but I've never much liked the end of a life. _She looked around at the coffins and sighed. _Every one of these coffins means that someone, somewhere is crying right about now. Parents, a wife or husband, brothers or sisters, grandchildren_, thought Nova as her eyes misted.

She looked around. Finally, she knelt before a coffin and opened it.

Under a light frost, Pat Orion lay there, still, looking as if he was sleeping.

"Orion, I promised you I'd come," said Nova softly. "What a way to be saying goodbye," she said with a hitch in her voice. The tears began to run down her cheeks a moment later. "You were so nice, staying with me that time I called my parents, helping me deal with Momma and her pictures of suitors. Guess what? All of those guys were boring anyway. And Poppa asked if I had found someone here on the _Argo_? Boy, you know the answer to that question, don't you, Pat?" laughed Nova through her tears. "Now, your sons will never see you coming home again, you'll never hug Cathleen again...I'll keep tabs on her, let you know how she grows when I see you at Heroes' Hill...and I understand you have a boy, a cadet who might serve with us, soon. I'll keep tabs on him for you, too, okay? Now, you go tell Captain Avatar that Derek and I are doing just fine." Nova sobbed as she laid her additional bundle of flowers over Orion's chest. "Oh, my God, we'll miss you so much...we'll..."

Then, Nova just lost it, and fell crying over Orion's cold chest. She held his hand, watching the tears fall on it.

"Sorry, Orion, I always get like that," sobbed Nova. "I'm as bad as my mother, maybe worse...Sorry you're seeing me like this...but I've got to be strong...got to encourage Derek and the others, got to put on that stiff upper lip...oh, damnit, what stiff upper lip? I lost a friend and my heart's breaking!"

Behind Nova the door whizzed open. While she wept, a kind but firm hand fell on her shoulder. She felt something wet running down the nape of her neck.

"Hey, Nova," said a familiar voice.

"Derek! But you're..."

"No need for you to cry alone, honey," he sobbed. "I guessed you'd be here. I...I...wanted to say goodbye to him, too.."

Nova hugged her husband. He returned the hug, and for a moment, in the cold, the two of them wept together over Orion's body. Then, Derek lay his bouquet on his chest.

"He was so fatherly...kinda like the Captain," said Derek. "He helped me see Captain Avatar as a person who took a loss and then went on when I thought Alex was dead and I was so angry at him. He was one of the people who helped me see that life was worth living again. The others were the Captain, Venture, Sandor...and you, of course. Then he was so wise, keeping an eye on us when we mutinied a few months back, I still remember what he said, _'someone's gotta keep you young fellas in line, now that Captain Avatar's gone'_. Now, he's gone, too."

Nova just nodded mournfully. She shut the casket and stood. Derek also stood, and then he saluted. She joined him in the fist-to-the-heart salute, and then they sat down together on the deck again.

"So many others," said Captain Wildstar. "Parmon, Farland, deGrothius, Tanami, and Orion, especially..."

"I hope he's sharing a drink with the Captain now," laughed Nova as she clung to her husband on the deck.

"Hey...speaking of drinks," said Derek with a wink in the cold. "I brought us this." He pulled a small bottle out of the inner pocket of his peacoat.

"Ah, the quote-unquote _spring water_, hmm?" chuckled Nova. She undid the cap and sniffed at the bottle. "It smells suspiciously like sake. Are you breaking some regulation?"

"It's for...medicinal purposes..." teased Derek while he removed two small sake cups from his other pocket. Nova then poured him his glass, and he poured hers.

"_Kampai_, Orion," said Derek in a soft voice.

"_Kampai_," replied Nova softly. They clinked the plastic cups, and then drank together to Orion's memory.

After the Captain put everything away, he put an arm around Nova's shoulder. "Hey, Nova. Let's go."

"Good idea. I'm getting cold," she said, shivering even under her heavy peacoat.

The couple left holding hands, silently consoled by each other's company. They felt that now, they were ready to face the funeral.

* * *

**III. YVONA'S CONVERSATION**

**The Technomugar Fortress**

**Joy Suite #66**

**Thursday, February 18, 2202**

**1848 Hours Spacetime (Earthtime)**

* * *

"There is so much about you," purred Ekogaru while he rocked and squeezed Yvona, "that I wish I understood."

"What do you mean?" she replied in fearful tones.

"Much about you, is a mystery, shrouded in an enigma. Your psyche may be quite as individualistic as mine. May I probe your mind?"

"You're like a god," whispered the frightened Yvona; she was both awed by Ekogaru and repulsed by him. Part of her wanted to cuddle up closer to this cold monster of a man, while part of her wanted to run from this thing that held her. "Why do you need to ask?"

"It's easier if you consent," he replied. "Easier since even I am tired now. A disadvantage of having a brain which is still flesh is that even I can grow weary. I detest the...weakness...of this state."

"So part of you is still mortal?"

"Yes...unfortunately. I was thinking of my mother. How she cast me out...how she and father left me to die long ago in the burning Rikashan desert when they discovered my early psionic experiments. They said...I was going beyond acceptable bounds. They said I was a warlock; not a mage. They said I was...mad. Possibly possessed by...things. Such was my _family_. But I lived. And I had my vengeance later on. Let's see what yours was like, Yvona. Yes. Let us see..."

The Dark Lord put a cold hand on Yvona's head, and she seemed to fall back, back, back into the past.

* * *

**In the Year 2187...**

It was summer, and Yvona Josiah was much younger. Her older self stood in the past with Ekogaru, watching her younger self sip at a Screwdriver in the first-class compartment of a hypersonic passenger plane on its way to Tokyo from Denver.

"How's the flight, Yvona?" asked a younger Hiram Josiah. He put a hand on his wife's stocking-clad knee.

"Hiram, don't do that. Not in front of the children," she said.

"What's wrong with my putting a hand on your knee? Isn't that innocuous?"

"Hiram, a lot of things can start with a hand on the knee."

"On a plane?" smiled Lieutenant Commander Hiram Josiah. He shook his head, looking across the table. "Karl, does what I'm doing look particularly dirty?" he asked while he sat there in his United Nations Space Defense Force uniform, with his hand on his wife's black stocking-clad knee. Yvona wore a black dress and Victorian-looking black booties.

"No," smiled Karl. Karl Forrester sat there in a grey blazer with black slacks and boots. His wife, Teri, sat beside him in a tan shorty bib coverall set with a beige top on beneath it, supplemented with brown sandals. Her hair was down, and she looked rather stylish. Karl also had a hand on his wife's bare knee. "Given that I have a hand on Teri's knee, there's nothing naughty about it."

"And you're doing that in front of your daughter," smirked Yvona.

"It's innocent," said Teri. "And I hardly think Nova's looking."

_"Nova," mused Ekogaru. "That can't be a common name."_

_"No, it's not," said the older Yvona. "That's our enemy. That little girl over there on her way to Tokyo Disneyland with my no-good son and their stupid family friend Natalie Fisher. Little brat. But Nova was always the ringleader. Creepy little kid."_

Ekogaru shook his head. The adults sat in rotating seats facing each other around a small cocktail table on the JAL plane. The children sat around a similar table on the other side of the aisle.

Two of the children; the girls, sat there in near-identical youth soccer league uniforms in green and gold. They were, of course, Nova and Natalie. Natalie was with the family with her parents' permission; her father had an important court case that he couldn't leave as of the last minute, so the Forresters arranged to take Natalie with them so her vacation wouldn't be interrupted. They had no problem with that, since Nova and Natalie always got along well.

**_Fan Artwork: "Young Nova" (c) 2003 by Frederick P. Kopetz_**

Nova sat scrunched up in her seat, in her green soccer top and gold shorts. She wasn't wearing her soccer socks, and she wore rubber after-game sandals rather than her cleats (her mother wouldn't let her walk on the plane in cleats), but she looked rather cute as she sat concentrating over a Monopoly game with a Band-Aid on her knee. Natalie was similarly dressed, save that she wore her soccer socks with her sandals.

Samuel, on the other hand, wore a suit with shorts, high socks, and dress shoes. He looked more formal than the girls, but it looked like he was having fun.

"What do you have?" asked Samuel.

"She's got an eight," said Nova. "She goes to jail!"

"Oops," giggled Natalie. She marched her piece into Jail.

"If you need a good lawyer, you can ask for my dad," teased Nova.

"Don't tease your father like that," said Yvona "That shows a lack of respect!"

"Yvona," said Teri. "She's a kid. That was cute. Are you bothered by what our daughter said, Karl?"

"No," said Karl as his eyes twinkled through his glasses. He came over to the children. "Why are you in jail, Natalie?"

"She landed on the "Go To Jail" space," said Samuel.

"She's been caught in a life of crime," giggled Nova. "She wants to rob that big bank in San Francisco."

"Do not," said Natalie.

"You do too," said Nova.

"Do _not_."

"Do _too_." Nova sang while Yvona looked on and shook her head.

_"You looked disgusted," said Ekogaru._

_"I was. She was acting up."_

_"Most children act like that," said Ekogaru._

_"She should have been a lady, not a child. In some ways, she's still a damn child."_

_"Ah...I see. Jealousy? She was a vivacious child."_

_"Too vivacious," sniffed the older Yvona. "Her and her rotten little friend."_

"Do not!" snapped Natalie. "What about you and your boyfriend?"

"I don't have a boyfriend!" giggled Nova.

"Nova's got a boyfriend," teased Natalie. "She looks at Mike all the time at school."

"Do _not_," said Nova. At that, she paused to kiss her father on the cheek as he went to sit back down.

"You do too," teased Natalie.

"You should be spanked!" yelled Yvona. "_Both of you!_"

"Yvona," said Teri. "I don't spank other people's children! Now, Nova, Natalie, sit down and take a time-out. You _are_ getting a little loud. What will people say?"

"Yes, Momma," said Nova. Natalie nodded agreement and she also quieted down.

"Children aren't quite human yet," said Yvona. Teri's eyebrows went up. "Why do you treat them as if they were?"

"Yvona, you don't treat a little girl...or...a little boy...like a dog you want to train," said Teri. "Discipline should be leavened with respect, love, and affection." Teri noticed Samuel sitting quietly, and her heart went out to him_. I wonder what she does to keep him quiet like that? I hope he's not being abused_, she thought.

"God wants us to," said Yvona.

"God does not want us to crush the spirit of a child for our own convenience."

"Are you saying you don't like the way I raise Samuel?"

"Yvona, I never said that...I..."

"Well, I don't like the way you raise your little wild child...you...you...little...tramp! Little girls should not be playing boys' sports! And in tight shorts!"

"These aren't tight," said a very puzzled Nova. Her soccer shorts were, as a matter of fact, fairly baggy.

"Shut up!" yelled Yvona in a voice that made Nova jump and made other passengers look at them.

_"You've always liked causing scenes, haven't you?" mused Ekogaru._

_"If someone needs to be confronted, they need to be confronted. Damn what anyone thinks of me! I'm always right! I have God on my side!" Yvona roared._

_"You sure do," mused Ekogaru. "Shall we go on?"_

"Yvona!" cried Teri. She took a deep breath. "You've come along with us...for what reason? To _insult_ us!" said Teri with a hitch in her voice.

"Now, Momma," said Karl reassuringly as he put a hand on her wrist.

Nova ran over and said, "Momma, please don't cry!"

"I can't help it. My sister is mean sometimes...she..."

Teri began to sob quietly while Hiram gazed hard at Yvona. "Now do you see what you've done?"

"The Word saith, "_Let a man's enemies be from within his own..."_

"Forget what your book says, and live," said Hiram.

"I've never been so insulted, either," said Yvona. "Children," she yelled at Natalie and Samuel. "Vacate those seats. "No, not you, Samuel. You're stupid!"

"Mom, you just said to move," he said as Natalie walked away.

"I changed my mind. And put away that game."

"We were playing," said Samuel. At that moment, the stewardess came over. "Ma'am," she said. "Would you please stop talking so loudly? You're disturbing other passengers."

"Of course," said Yvona. While Nova and Natalie sat down uneasily together in the seats that Hiram and Yvona had just vacated in front of Nova's parents, Yvona then whispered, "Samuel, you're going to really get it when we land for causing all of this..."

"Mom, I was..."

"No you weren't," said Yvona.

_"Children", said Yvona to Ekogaru. "They should be seen and not heard."_

_"By the way, do you know what became of your husband; the one you stabbed?"_

_"No," said Yvona._

_"I can show you," said Ekogaru. "You might like to see this."_

Ekogaru and Yvona disappeared, to reappear in his Council chambers. Yvona smiled when the Dark Lord pulled up an image of her son, standing in his peacoat, standing with an umbrella in the snow...in a cemetery, on Earth.

* * *

It was evening in the Megalopolis.

Samuel Josiah stood with a bouquet of flowers in the snow near a very fresh grave.

_Dad,_ he thought. _You lingered for several weeks. Never regained consciousness. It was almost...merciful, that you finally died on Sunday night. To think we just put you in the ground this afternoon, after Mother stabbed you. Now, I am really an orphan. My Mother is dead, as far as I'm concerned, some traitor...and my Father is now dead. Really dead. Just another one of Yvona's victims._

Samuel Josiah ground his teeth as he laid the bouquet by his father's tombstone. It read:

**_CAPTAIN HIRAM JOSIAH _**

**_2150-2202_**

**_YOU WILL BE REMEMBERED: AND AVENGED_**

_Rest in peace, Dad,_ thought Samuel. _We won't forget you._

After staring at the tombstone, Samuel Josiah turned around. Karl Forrester stood behind him.

"Sam, let's go," he said. "You're staying with us at our apartment for the night."

"Did you let my cousin know?"

"Earth Defense sent a message out earlier today. I think she knows by now, Sam. I think she knows."

"Damn my mother," said Samuel.

"I agree with you," said Karl. "Finally, so does Teri."

"Thanks," said Samuel after a long moment. "My mother...do you have a lot of Scotch around?"

"We do. Why do you ask?"

"I've gotta tell you and Teri about a lot of things she did...both to me...and to my cousin. She was a sick, sick woman..."

"I see. You can tell us at the apartment. Hate to cut you off, but it's cold out here."

Samuel Josiah nodded.

* * *

Later that day, on the _Argo's _foredeck, Rabbi Greenberg, the ship's Chaplain, intoned, "In the name of peace, with hopes for a better tomorrow, we commend these fallen warriors to the Sea of Stars." While the caskets drifted over the _Argo's_ side, as the Combat Group and Marines fired salutes from their hand weapons, the rest of the crew stood in salute. Lieutenant Yamazaki, Lieutenant Parsons, Ensign Rosstowski, Lieutenant Wildstar, Lieutenant Commander Venture, Lieutenant "Dash" Jordan and Lieutenant Commander Sandor stood in a line below the first gun turret, holding salutes in their old-type spacesuits as, above them, Captain Wildstar stood saluting in his red and white old-type spacesuit.

"Farewell, everyone," murmured Derek softly in his helmet. "Farewell, Orion. I hope that we don't have to do this again on this voyage. It's probably too much to hope for...but..."

The crew held the salute for a long time. Finally, Rabbi Greenberg said, "All hands, these proceedings are ended."

"At ease," said Venture a moment later.

The crew released the salute, and Venture looked up at Wildstar. Derek nodded. "All hands, you are dismissed. Essential personnel will return to their posts. Everyone else is given an hour off for a period of reflection. You may break ranks now."

The formation broke in an orderly manner. Then, the crew began to return to the inside of the ship.

* * *

Later on aboard the _Argo_, in the Captain's Quarters, Nova was taking off her spacesuit helmet not long after the funeral on deck.

"Well, at least it's done," said Derek. "Orion and the others are now decently at rest in the Sea of Stars."

Nova nodded. "I still feel wrenched. I'm wondering who else we'll be laying to rest before we get home. I hope it's not you..."

"You worry too much," said Derek. He hugged Nova, who made a crinkly noise when they embraced because she still had on the old-style spacesuit that they had been forced to wear today due to the local radiation. "Want me to help you out of that?"

Nova nodded yet again; tears were running down her cheeks. Derek began to undo her spacesuit a moment later. When the chore was finished, and her spacesuit and boots had come off, she stood there barefoot in her regular female Star Force uniform; the female variant was tight enough to be worn as an undergarment beneath a standard spacesuit.

"Here, let me help you out of yours, Derek."

Wildstar relaxed and let Nova undress him out of his spacesuit. When she was done, he stood there in his undershirt and boxer shorts. Both of them stowed their spacesuits in the specially-designed garment bags, and then Derek sat down exhausted at his desk.

"I wish I could sleep for a hundred years," he said as he sat there with his head drooping back. Nova knelt behind his chair and began to rub his shoulders. "Just another hard day at the office," he said in a self-deprecating tone. He sat there, enjoying Nova's rubdown with a smile on his face and closed eyes. "You're good at this."

"I should be; I'm a nurse," teased Nova. "And we are both off duty."

"Yeah...it's twenty hundred. We still have forty-five minutes to reflect before the next watch starts."

"We're not on watch tonight," suggested Nova.

Derek smiled. "Yeah...we do have some catching up to do, since Gun Frontier. Did you do your preliminaries for Hartcliffe's court-martial?"

"Did them earlier this evening," said Nova. "I have no more work to do tonight. Unless, that is, we get attacked. Oh! I need to check my e-mail."

"You checked it earlier."

"Let's just see if anything else came in."

Nova padded over to her computer and brought up her e-mail program. "The usual spam," she sighed. "Want something to make you "_irresistible to ANY woman?""_

"And that's in _your_ box? They must think you run on DC current."

They both laughed at this. "Oh. Got two from my mom. Let's see what the first one says..."

"Hmm...it says, _I hate to upset you, but_..."

Nova opened the letter and read. Her face went white after a moment, "Derek...oh, my God. _No!_"

Derek looked at the stricken expression on his wife's face. He barely needed to read the body of the message to see that something bad had happened...

_Nova:_

_This is Momma. I have sad news that you need to hear as soon as possible. Your Uncle Hiram, who never woke up from that coma after Yvona stabbed him a few weeks ago, just died in his sleep on Sunday night. They said he went quickly and felt no pain. Your cousin Samuel got emergency leave from his fighter squadron and is staying with us until after the funeral. I'm so sorry that I have to share the news with you this way, and I don't know when you'll get this letter, but I felt you had to be told. He's being buried at Shinobinyara Cemetery here in the Megalopolis after the cremation. Yvona has been charged with murder in absentia. If she's ever caught, she'll surely be executed for this. _

_I hope you and Derek are both well. I'm so sorry I have to sadden your voyage with this news. If you remember, please bring some gardenias and roses to the grave when you get home. And comfort Samuel. I'm sure you know his address; an electronic card would be appreciated when you can do so._

_Love, Momma_

"Not more death!" cried Nova. She fell into her husband's arms and wept. "Derek, when is it going to _stop?_"

"When we defeat them," he said. Tears ran down his cheeks, too. "Captain Josiah was a good man."

Nova just clung to her husband's arm and sobbed. A knock came at the hatch. "Who is it?" yelled Captain Wildstar in a broken voice.

"Doctor Sane. I'm sorry to disturb you two, but we need Nova right away."

"What happened now?" sobbed Nova.

"Come in," said Derek.

Doctor Sane came in and looked mystified. "What's happened?"

"She just got word that her uncle died. Yvona Josiah did it."

Sane looked upset. "I'm so sorry. I just got a call from Doctor Bradford...someone else might die soon if he doesn't get treated?'

"Who?" said Nova, who sat up bolt upright.

"Lieutenant Bryan Hartcliffe just tried to kill himself."

"How?" said Nova as she put her feet down in a hurry. "Derek, my boots? What happened?"

"He got hold of a plastic writing stylus, sharpened it, and cut his own wrists pretty damn deep," said Sane as Nova put her shoes back on. "He left a note in his own blood that said, quote, "_No one's putting me on bloody trial_." Unquote."

"terrible..." said Nova.

"Nova, don't you want your nursing uniform?"

"I've got a uniform down in Sickbay. I'll change there when we scrub." She turned to Derek and kissed him. "Sorry, again. I'll see you later."

"Good luck on the operation," said Derek.

Both of them left.

_Now we've got more crap,_ thought Derek while he reached for his clothes. _I wonder what other e-mail she got? Well, I won't snoop, so, I'll just shut this down for her and take a look in at that operating theatre in a while...as much as I dislike that Hartcliffe, I hope he'll be all right..._

The Captain dressed and left.

* * *

Later on, he stood looking down at the main operating room in Sickbay through the observation windows. Doctor Sane worked on the still, anesthetized form of Bryan Hartcliffe, while Nova and Natalie Fisher assisted him in their scrub minidresses and boots. IQ-9 worked running some equipment nearby.

"I heard he needed blood," said Conroy.

"Yeah...looks like they're running quite a bit into him," said Wildstar, who noticed two bottles of blood hanging on a stand over the pilot. In the operating room, Nova disappeared for a moment, and then came back with a third bottle, which she plugged into the IV they had running into his elbow. His wrists were in no shape to accept an IV feed, of course.

"I heard that his cell was a mess when they found the poor devil," said Rosstowski. "Hemsford told me another five minutes, and they'd be doing an autopsy right now."

"Well, there goes his court-martial...at least for a while," said Dash.

"Yeah. We can't do anything now until he gets a complete psychiatric evaluation; and Doctor Sane will have to do that," said Captain Wildstar.

"How long will that take?" asked Conroy.

"Days," said Dash. "Maybe a week."

"He'll have to recover first, of course," said Doctor Bradford as she came up. "I don't know how likely that'll be."

"Where's his wife?' asked Captain Wildstar.

"I have her sedated in a side room. Hardy pulled her off an outgoing patrol when he heard the news."

"What a shame," said Dash. "I hope he realizes how his selfishness is hurting everyone else."

"I'll beat it into him if he doesn't," said Rosstowski.

"_Ensign_," warned Derek.

"Sorry, sir...figure of speech," said Paul. "Yeah...Aliscea just warned me, too, through our link."

"Not a good situation," said Conroy.

"No, not at all," agreed Captain Wildstar.

* * *

"Well, now that we've restored his blood volume, we can get these tendons fixed," said Doctor Sane after Nova and Natalie disconnected the IV's. "Help me hold this vein down while I fix it. Then we can loosen those hemostats up again."

"Right away," said Nova. "I've got a clamp here. Got it?"

"Let me get in here with the laser unit," said Sane. "Natalie, how's his blood pressure?"

"Low but steady," she said. "I think he'll pull through this. I don't know if that'll be a good thing or a bad thing for him, though."

"It'll be dicey," said Sane. "Nova, when we get done, you stay with him. Natalie, you and Brunner get the secure room ready. Given how he was yelling in that brig, he's going to wake up in restraints."

"Do you think he'll be cashiered for this?" asked Nova.

"That's _my _decision," said Sane. "You just get me all the diagnostic notes you can when he's no longer groggy. Ever counsel him?"

"Once. It didn't go well. Him and his attitude problem," sighed Nova.

"Let me guess. He was complimenting your looks, and it wasn't your face he was complimenting," chuckled Sane.

"No, Doctor," said Nova as she blushed under her mask.

"I can see you blushing under that mask, Nova. What was he complimenting?"

"You don't want to know," she said softly. "He should be complimenting his wife. She's very pretty. Maybe prettier than I am in some ways."

"Oh, stop putting yourself down, Lieutenant. You're drop-dead gorgeous and everyone on this ship knows that."

"What does that make me?" said Natalie.

"A pain in the backside!" said Sane. "Now you be good and get me twenty cc's of Ivox. I'm going to need it here in this wound."

"Yessir," said Fisher.

"Your bottom is not a pain. It is a work of art, Fisher," said IQ-9 as he looked away from his panel.

"Tinwit!" warned Nova. "We're _busy_."

"I owe you one, Natalie. You, too, Nova, so you won't feel neglected."

"Thanks a lot, IQ," huffed Lieutenant Wildstar.

"Is he like this all the time?" asked Natalie.

"Yeah," sighed Nova. "Has he annoyed you yet?"

"Nope."

"Get ready, it's coming, Natalie," said Nova with a grin under her mask.

* * *

**IV. ARRIVAL AT THE GREAT MAGELLENIC CLOUD**

**138,000 Lightyears Away From Earth**

**Space Battleship _Argo_**

**First Bridge**

**Sunday, February 21, 2202**

**0900 Hours Spacetime (Earthtime)**

* * *

Two and a half days passed aboard the _Argo, _which was now close to the very edge of the Great Magellenic Cloud. Bryan Hartcliffe remained confined in Sickbay while Doctor Sane and Nova took time to question him about his motives and state of mind. He was quite uncommunicative, and often responded to questions in only grunts. His fitness to stand trial, and, possibly, his fitness to remain an EDF officer, was in the balance.

The journey continued without incident. The ship's systems were repaired, and the _Argo_ survived every warp smoothly. In fact, a normal routine took hold. The ship was checked and rechecked, the Black Tigers went on patrol and returned with no sightings of any enemy forces, and things were normal, or as normal as they could be.

Even Aliscea reported that Ekogaru was, inexplicably, slowing in his approach of the Sanzar System. She began to think that they might have two, perhaps even three weeks before he and his dreaded Fortress arrived.

"If he continues to work this slowly," she said as she sat at Analysis on the First Bridge, "Starsha and I will surely have time to work out some sort of strategy to stop him. This battle, at least with his forces, might never even get to Earth."

"Why do you sound so confident?" asked Dash.

"Ekogaru and his Fortress are inextricably linked," explained Aliscea. "If he is wounded or killed in psionic battle, his Fortress would just stop dead in its tracks. And, since I think his cyborg forces are somehow linked to his twisted life-force, his Empire wouldn't be much of a threat, either."

"What about the Rikashans and R'Khell?" asked Rosstowski.

"Paul, from what you've seen, they worship Ekogaru. Their holy war is driven by their faith in him, just as the Crusaders were driven by faith in their God. If they receive word that their God is wounded or dead, I think the momentum of their holy war would slow down or maybe stop altogether. The threat to your Earth would either drop off or dry up altogether in those circumstances. I need to go off and meditate, if you don't mind...while we make this warp, but I have words for each of you. Captain Wildstar, may I proceed?"

"Go ahead."

"These thoughts came to me in dreams," she said. "Dreams and visions." She stood up and held Dash's shoulders. "Dash, whatever you do, don't give up. The storm is darkest before the dawn; remember that, always. Don't give up on life. In the next few years, you will be the XO of another ship. Don't lose sight of that."

"Of course," he said.

Then, Aliscea walked over to Venture. "Mark; what you and Holly Parsons have is something special. Don't lose sight of it. Remember your past loves; they will serve you well, but don't live in the past. Many trials will be coming, but don't ever lose hope. Those are my words to you."

"Thank you, Aliscea," said Venture, whose eyes were misting. He wasn't sure why.

Then, Aliscea walked to Sandor. "Steve, if I may call you that?"

"Yes?"

"I think I had a vision of you. You will continue to advance, and I see you sitting at this same seat within two years, on this bridge, after the fire of the phoenix washes over this grand ship and makes her over again anew. The life-spirit of this ship will never die in your lifetime. You have a great charge. Heal her through her wounds, and she shall take care of you. She shall bring you love. I see a day in the future when, indeed, you will not be alone."

"Thank you," said Sandor as Aliscea hugged him. He was both intrigued and mystified by her words.

Aliscea then turned to Nova. "Sister...may I call you that?"

"Sister?" said Nova.

"You've been like that for me. Caring. Accepting. Always there. I had a specific vision about you and I. Do you want to hear about it?"

Nova nodded.

"Do you have enough courage to bear it?"

"Yes, I do."

"I saw us naked in Hell together," said Aliscea in a monotone.

"What?" said Nova, who was totally horrified by this.

"It may be figurative; for, sometimes my Visions don't make a lot of sense," said Aliscea. "I don't think I saw the afterlife. I think we might meet on his Fortress before this ends. I also know that you will have to meet your greatest fear and decapitate it. Or, she will decapitate you."

"Do you mean my Aunt Yvona?" demanded Nova.

"If she is your greatest fear...which I am not sure she is...maybe she represents it. I don't know. If I were you, I would practice my fencing with a rapier. Practice the fastest moves you can make up with your husband. Think of it as an elaborate jazz dance. I know you love to dance. Yet, in the end, I see you holding your children, and I see you in school again for a time; and I see you in the summer; once, with a baby on your back; once, with Derek on a bicycle in a sundress. I think both will come to pass, but you will have to endure darkness first. And you will never be truly alone. Remember that, even in the darkness and in the cold. Remember that on the day when you have to carry me and warm me with your body warmth so I can live...so we can all be free. Especially in that day."

Aliscea hugged Nova. Nova hugged back, but weakly. _What is ahead for me?_ she thought. _Do I die? Do I meet Ekogaru? And what does Yvona have to do with this? _

Aliscea then held hands with Holly. She said, "I will have to rescue you. There will be a time, soon, where you won't be able to walk or move anything below your waist. You and Mark will suffer terribly. Yet, I also see you skipping down the aisle at your wedding, and I see you dancing barefoot with your husband, the Commander, Captain Wildstar, and with Nova on a summer's day more than a year from now. Maybe you marry him or have the reception on a beach? I don't know."

"Thanks," said Holly. Parsons cast her eyes downwards, not sure what Aliscea meant.

Aliscea then walked back to the Captain's station and knelt beside Captain Wildstar. She and Derek held hands, and she said, "I dreamt about you last night. For you, I saw a number of parties or functions. Odd. I saw a party on Iscandar. It is soon; it will be on the beach. Then, I saw a celebration here on the bridge of this ship. You and Nova are holding hands and embracing as you both gaze into something that looks like the sun. Tears are running down your faces, and you are both happy because a great evil has passed. Then, I see the two of you laughing together in a church with her family. A funeral suddenly turned into a banquet; perhaps because someone thought dead stands in the midst of the group alive. Then, later, I see you and her at a ball on Gamilon."

"Gamilon?" said Derek, totally mystified. "We devastated it. How can anyone have a party there? It's a dead planet, Aliscea."

"I saw it, and I saw Nova with her shoe off, dipping a toe into the seawater at the shore on Gamilon and laughing. I have no idea what that means."

"Aliscea, are you sure it was Gamilon? Gamilon's oceans are sulfuric acid. It nearly dissolved this ship; and I don't like to think of what that acidic sea would do to a human being!"

"Nevertheless, it was Gamilon," said Aliscea. "Maybe it means that many things will change. Also, all the time, I saw you and her together. Except for a dark hour when you are looking at your wedding photo album, alone. But later, you were looking at it with her. Take heart from that, Captain Derek Wildstar. I see you and Nova growing old together, very old. You might even both live to be a hundred and still be with each other. I don't know for sure. But, don't give up. There is a future, and it is bright."

She then released Derek and then went on to Homer. "I had a funny vision about you," she said with a smile. " I see you dating someone. She has brown hair, and she's very pretty. In fact, she's gorgeous. Does that help?"

"It does!" said Homer. "Thanks!"

"Now, for you, Yamazaki," said Aliscea as she took his hands. "You will serve here for a long, long time. You are mourning the loss of your Chief, yet, before this ends, you will see his son here on this ship. You will train him to step into his father's shoes...I saw that."

"Thank you," said Yamazaki. "That makes me feel better."

"Paul," she said as she hugged her bondmate. "Paul, you were in all my dreams. Always there. Always together. Let that thought console you a while...since I see us as being parted."

"Parted? But why?"

"To defeat Ekogaru, I have to descend into Hell. His hell. I must confront him. And I can't do it with you beside me."

"But I want to be there!" said Paul.

"Unfortunately, you cannot be. But we will meet again," said Aliscea. She released the hug and said, "That will be all."

"Captain," said Venture. "We're ready to make our last warp in five minutes. Our destination will be...the Sanzar System. When we come out of warp, Iscandar and Gamilon will be looming up in those windows."

"Commander Venture, make those preparations. Homer, stand by to contact Queen Starsha. When we come out of warp, I want Iscandar contacted. The end of this stage of our journey is now almost before us."

"Yessir!" said Venture...and Homer. For once, both men were in agreement.

* * *

**_TO BE CONTINUED WITH ACT EIGHT--"A FREINDSHIP FORGED IN HELL"_**

* * *

**_THERE ARE NOW 95 DAYS TO THE ARRIVAL OF EKOGARU IN EARTH'S SOLAR SYSTEM_**

* * *


	8. Chapter 8

* * *

**ALTERNATE TALES OF THE STAR FORCE**

**STAR BLAZERS---****RETURN TO THE GREAT MAGELLENIC CLOUD**

**Being the seventh part of THE RIKASHA INCIDENT--- BY: Frederick P. Kopetz**

* * *

**ACT EIGHT--A FREINDSHIP FORGED IN HELL**

**Star Blazers and Space Battleship Yamato are (c) 2003 by Voyager Entertainment and Leiji Matsumoto.**

* * *

**I. WITH 'FREINDS' LIKE THESE, WHO NEEDS ENEMIES?**

**148,000 Lightyears Away From Earth**

**The Sanzar System**

**Sunday February 21, 2202**

**0920 Hours Spacetime (Earthtime)**

* * *

On the first bridge of the _Argo_, the usual post-warp hum was fading out.

"Warp completed," said Venture. "All systems normal."

"We're now in the Sanzar System," said Nova. She took a scan. "Switching to video panel."

The twin planets of Gamilon and Iscandar appeared before them. "All quiet," continued Nova. "No reaction on the radar. Should we call Queen Starsha, Derek?"

"Sounds like a good idea," he said. "Homer, contact Mother Town. There shouldn't be any interference from Gamilon now, of course."

"Gamilon," said Venture. "I wonder if it's still dead...like the way we left it when we left?"

Derek shook his head thoughtfully. "I still remember what I thought the last time I saw Gamilon," he said as Venture and Nova came to the Captain's station. "Did I ever tell you everything I said, Venture?"

"I read your log...you said something about..."

"I didn't put everything in the log, Venture. Remember, Nova?"

Nova just nodded. "Derek, you tell him. It still hurts me too much to think about what we did to the Gamilon people. I still have dreams about it..."

"I remember what happened that day," said Derek. "It went like this..."

_Nova was crying. I remember that all too well. She was crying as if there was no tomorrow. She said, "Here we are, so close to Iscandar, and we're still fighting! And look at what we've done to Gamilon! How can I look God in the face at the Judgment now, knowing what we did to them? We've committed genocide, Derek! Do you realize that? What have we done?" _

_Then, I remember standing thoughtfully on the Argo's foredeck with my fists clenched. I was thinking. After a long, long time, I spoke. "Ever__since we were children, we were taught to win. We've always been taught that winning is everything. But where ever there is a winner, there is a loser. What happens to those who are defeated? Don't those who are defeated also have the right to live?"_

_I paused. I thought again. Then, I picked up a spare rifle. "Funny, I __never thought of that until this day. It makes me sick to my stomach. It makes me sad and angry. We were wrong to have fought them the way we did! We should have tried to help them! Damnit, we should have shown them that we cared! Their planet was dying. We should have tried to do something..."_

_Then, I stopped. I picked up my rifle and looked at it. "So, this is victory? Standing here in a stinking graveyard? Victory...hah! Victory tastes like ashes."_

_Then, I just threw the rifle over the rail. After I looked around at the destruction, I put my hand on Nova's shoulder, realizing we couldn't do any more. "Come on, Nova. We've got to patch up the ship, and some of the crew need patching up, too. There's plenty of work ahead for both of us."_

_Then, Nova nodded at me, and we went back into the ship._

"So, you've still got a guilt trip over what we had to do on Gamilon, sir?"asked Rosstowski.

"Didn't you see the way the capital looked after we got done with it?" snapped Captain Wildstar. "We turned it into a wasteland."

"Well, he made us do it," said Rosstowski.

"How can you talk like that, Paul?" said Aliscea angrily. "It amazes me that you didn't feel any pain over this battle."

"Well, you know I did," said Paul. "I picked up two of my buddies in that turret after that battle. One of 'em was torn in half, Aliscea! It's a little hard for me to stand around and cry in my beer over the Gamilons at times when I remember what they did to my comrades." He noticed Holly giving him a dirty look. "But I guess a Mustang like me up from the enlisted ranks probably shouldn't realize how you guys think up here in Officers' Country, huh? You're all more _enlightened_ than I am," he huffed.

"Yeah, we are," said Parsons.

"Rosstowski, Parsons, cut the crap right now!" said Captain Wildstar. "Got it?"

"Yeah," said Parsons. "Sorry, sir."

"I'm not," huffed Paul.

"Paul, even though I know almost everything about you," said Aliscea, "there are times when you are so petty that you make me want to throw up!"

"Oh? What are you gonna do? Set me on fire or something?" said Paul angrily.

"You think I'm a freak, don't you?" snapped Aliscea.

"I didn't say that!" said Rosstowski.

"No? But you _were thinking_ it!" yelled Aliscea as she ran off crying.

"Aliscea, come back!" yelled Paul. "_Aliscea!_" Rosstowski got up and looked like he was going to leave his post.

"Rosstowski, wait!" said Wildstar. "I didn't give you permission to leave the bridge! Sit back down! You're still on duty! Everyone, get back to your posts. We'll have to work this out later on."

"Derek, "said Nova. "If she's aggrieved..."

Captain Wildstar sat in thought for a moment. "Rosstowski, how do you feel about what you said?"

"Pretty stupid. I'm sorry about that."

"Then I'll tell her for you," offered Nova. "Captain, permission to leave my post for a few minutes? I think I know where she is."

"Granted. But don't take too long. I need you back here to scan those currents between Gamilon and Iscandar so we make a safe landing on Iscandar."

"Yessir," said Nova. "See you soon."

Nova left. Homer said, "Isn't Rosstowski's fault. Aliscea's weird."

"Homer, shut your trap!" said Venture. "You don't understand anything about anyone."

"I understand most people, but not women. They're all nuts," said Homer.

"I hear _you're_ nuts!" said Holly with a flip of her ponytail.

The bridge crew broke out laughing at that one while Homer gritted his teeth. _Jerks_, he thought. _They're all a bunch of stupid jerks. _

"Homer, we need you to call Iscandar. Do it now!" said Wildstar.

"Yessir," he said. "I'll look up the frequency that Starsha used the last time, and contact her on that..."

Holly shook her head as she watched her radar. _What is this guy, Glitchman?_ she thought. _Gay? Is Homer really gay? Is that why he's so maladjusted?_

* * *

Nova went straight to the _Argo's_ aft observation deck. As she expected, Aliscea was there, crying her eyes out.

"...Aliscea?"

"Yeah?"

"I talked to Paul..."

"I know you mean well, but tell him he can drop dead."

"...Aliscea?"

"Must I say it in a different Terran language, Nova? Tell him he can drop dead!"

"What he's trying to say is that he's sorry. And we need you."

"Oh, I know you need me. I know the humanity needs me. I'm sorry, but I'm sort of in a 'drop dead' world mode right now, Nova. In about two seconds, that's gonna apply to you too, kid."

"Well, then, I'll leave," said Nova. She turned to go.

"No, wait."

"Wait?"

"Yeah, wait. I...I don't know what I wanna do at the moment. I love him, but I want to tell him to drop dead right now. Is that normal?"

"I love Derek, but sometimes I feel like telling him to...uhhh..."

"To rot in hell, Nova?"

"You could sort of say that. I don't use those exact words, but..."

"the sentiment is there, huh? Then why do you love him?"

"I just do. All men are jerks at times, Aliscea. That's a basic fact of life. And sometimes, we women can be horrid, too. Well, he's sorry. He sent me to tell you."

"Is he, you Nosy Parker? " said Aliscea. Aliscea held out a hand and made flame shoot up from it. Nova stepped back a little.

"Aliscea, that won't do any good."

"Sorry. I just feel like setting the world on fire right now." She smiled grimly and put out her own fire. "He'd better apologize to me."

"He wanted to come and do it now, but we have work to do. We're about to land on Iscandar."

"Oh, yes. That. Tell him I'll be along soon."

"All right." Nova turned to go.

"Hey, Nova?" said Aliscea.

"Yes?"

"Thanks," said Aliscea.

"You're quite welcome." At that, Nova left.

* * *

"I've got Iscandar on the line," said Homer. "Switching to video panel."

The panel switched, and a view of Starsha and Alex came up on the _Argo's_ main screen.

"So, you're almost here," said Queen Starsha. When she appeared, everyone on the bridge stood up and saluted. When Nova arrived on the bridge a moment later, she joined the mass salute, as well.

"Queen Starsha, where should we land?" said Captain Wildstar.

"At the same place as before; the quay to the south of Mother Town. Where's Aliscea? I wanted to speak to her face to face."

Nova looked to Derek. Derek nodded. Nova then said, "Queen Starsha, she's busy at the moment. She'll be on the bridge in a few minutes...but I'm not sure she'll be back up here in time to..."

"That's all right," said Starsha. Alex looked at her and smiled. "Give her our regards. Tell her that we hope to be speaking with her soon. We have much to discuss."

"Thank you, Starsha," said Derek. "Alex, it's good to see you again."

"Thanks, Derek," said Alex. "Much has changed on Iscandar since you were last here...we...and you have to know something, Starsha says...she...just..."

Suddenly, the audio and video fizzed out. "What's going on?" asked Venture.

"Jamming waves!" said Homer. "Someone's jamming the transmission!"

"See if you can get it back," said Captain Wildstar.

Homer began to sweat. "I'm trying..." he said.

Nova then called out, "Radar contact! What the...it's a huge fleet?"

"Give me numbers and classes," said Derek.

"Massive..." said Nova as she let the computer perform calculations. "Six hundred destroyers, four hundred missile ships, ten disk carriers, five tri-deck carriers, ten battleships...one heavy space battleship. They're all old Gamilon types! Total fleet size, one thousand and twenty-six ships! Range, twenty-two megameters, speed, fifteen space knots; heading, from RPG-067; they were coming from behind Gamilon. And the jamming waves are coming from the flagship!"

"Gamilons?" said Derek. "What would Desslok be doing jamming a transmission from Iscandar? We're on the same side!"

"Captain," said Homer. "I'm getting a signal from the flagship."

"I'd love to ask Desslok what he's up to."

"Sir, it's not Desslok," said Homer. "Switching to video panel."

The bridge crew sucked in a deep breath as a familiar Gamilon face appeared on the screen. Even changed as it was, they could tell it wasn't Desslok.

"Welcome, Star Force," said the hard, disdainful voice. "Fitting, I'd say, that it ends here. Here, where you wiped out so many of my people. Fitting for Gamilon to, at last, have its revenge. In case some of you aren't aware of who I am, I am Lysis, the man who fought you almost two years ago at Rainbow Star Cluster. I now lead Gamilon. Where is Captain Avatar?"

"Captain Avatar is dead," said Captain Wildstar as he stood up. "You may remember me, Lysis. I am Derek Wildstar, captain of the _Argo_ and commander of the Star Force. Captain Avatar chose me to succeed him; aware that he was dying even as he led the battle against you. He died of radiation sickness, due to the planet bombing of Earth."

"Yes, I recall your face," said Lysis. "You look a little older now. However, perhaps, I would not say that you're any wiser. As Chancellor of Gamilon, your presence here is an _insult_ to me. That is why I am going to finish you; all of you are war criminals, as far as I am concerned. You have aided and abetted Avatar in an act of genocide. And you will pay for it."

"General Lysis, haven't you been in touch with Leader Desslok?" asked Derek. "The war between Gamilon and Earth is long over, now, by his command. We had a final confrontation, and Leader Desslok declared the war over. We have recent codes that we can transmit to you to prove this."

"Desslok is long dead, and you killed him," said Lysis. "And soon, you shall die, too. Perhaps, someday, we shall share a drink as friends in Hell. But, for now, we are enemies. Let us see if you can survive what I have prepared for you. I doubt it. I highly doubt it."

The screen went dark, and, immediately, incoming fire roared in from Lysis' fleet.

"Third bridge is hit!" said Sandor.

"The aft auxiliary gun turret is hit!" said Rosstowski.

Nova jumped back a little as sparks came from her board. "Great! One of the radar aerials is out! Trying to compensate for the blind spot. Their speed has picked up...they're closing in!"

"I'm picking up the firing data," said Dash. "Captain, ready to return fire."

"Return fire...all forward turrets."

The _Argo's_ forward turrets went off, sending a fusillade of energy into the Gamilon fleet as Venture turned the ship.

"Five hits, two near-misses," said Rosstowski.

"Drop in the bucket," said Captain Wildstar while Venture turned the _Argo_ again to avoid a heavy barrage from Lysis' fleet. "We've got to get rid of those guys as soon as possible."

"Wave motion gun?" said Sandor.

Derek nodded.

"We'll have to get into position, and survive that barrage," said Venture. "That'll be the tough part."

"You're telling me," said Nova. "I'm going to make sure I'm belted in this time, okay?"

"Good idea," said Derek as she snapped on her safety harness. She looked back as Aliscea staggered onto the bridge. "Aliscea," she said.

"Yeah?"

"If you want to talk to Paul, you kinda picked a bad time," said Nova dryly as another explosion went off outside. "Range of enemy: nine point four two megameters Speed, twenty-two space knots. They're all around us; three different locations. I think we'll have to do a short warp to get into wave gun firing position," she said as Aliscea staggered towards her seat while the ship tilted. "What? Another fleet's warping in above us...distance, thirty-two megameters. Speed, twenty-six space knots. About a hundred and fifty ships...uh..."

A moment later, Holly said, "Lots of targets appearing all around us, at close range! Switching to video panel."

Captain Wildstar looked. "Gamilon fighter-bombers. They're using SMITE. Lysis must have a pretty good-sized fleet. Dash, stand by with the pulse lasers."

"Right," said Dash.

More planes appeared, and then Derek's eyebrows went up as they did something very strange. Several Gamilon destroyers from the first fleet began to charge the _Argo_, and the fighter-bombers seemed to pause a moment, and then they attacked the destroyers.

"Wildstar...!" said Venture. "I don't believe it...I think they're...they're _defending_ us?"

"I'm getting another transmission," said Homer. "Something's blocking out the jamming waves from Lysis' fleet, and the second fleet above us is sending a much stronger signal."

"Nova, identify that fleet," said Captain Wildstar.

"Yessir. One command cruiser, ten space battleships, about twenty carriers, some larger ships of a type I don't recognize, and many destroyers and missile cruisers. Most of them look like they're Gamilons, too."

"I have a video image from that fleet," said Homer. "Switching to video panel."

The panel changed, and another Gamilon appeared on the screen. Only, this man had blonde hair and no cyborg parts. He shut his eyes and smiled at Wildstar. "Captain, I believe you need some assistance?"

"Desslok!" snapped Derek. "I don't mean any disrespect, but would you get on the damn horn to Lysis out there and tell him the war is over?"

"Lysis?" said Desslok with his eyebrows going up.

"Sir," said Talan right on the screen. He was sweating. "We've just identified that fleet that's attacking the _Argo_; it's Gamilon, sir."

"Gamilon?" said Desslok in shock. Talan nodded.

"They don't have a right to start such an attack," said Desslok. "Only I have the right to determine whom Gamilon is at peace or war with. And we are at peace with you, Captain Wildstar."

"Lysis doesn't know that," said Derek. "He thinks that you're dead and he's in command of the Empire."

"Oh, he _does?_" said Desslok in a proud, sarcastic tone. "All ships, cover the _Argo_! I'll set the man straight. Then, I'll want to see him. Myself. My apologies, Captain Wildstar."

The screen then went dark.

"Well?" said Venture.

"Well...that's a change," said Derek. "Dash, be careful with your targets. We...uh...don't want to hit Desslok's fleet," he said as Nova switched the video screen, again, to a view of about twenty Gamilon destroyers surrounding the _Argo_...to fend off other Gamilon ships; some at the sacrifice of themselves.

"Do you think Desslok would mind if we made a few mistakes?" laughed Dash.

"I think he would," said Captain Wildstar. "For now, let's depend upon Desslok's destroyer screen for protection...but stand by...in case this is some trick."

"Do you trust him?" said Venture.

"It's about seventy-thirty right now, Venture. Until he stops that huge fleet, part of me will be wondering if this was some grand stratagem of his to get us after all."

"Sounds like you don't trust him," said Sandor.

"Let's just say that my trust in Desslok is currently being _tested_," snapped Derek. "Desslok, if you're _really_ on _our_ side, put a stop to this crap," he said out loud in an irritable tone of voice.

* * *

"General, another Gamilon fleet is attacking us!" said Volgarr. "It seems to be a rather strong fleet!"

"Interlopers," said Lysis. "Get me in touch with their flagship. I want to know who's behind this."

"Sir, they're calling _us_," said Volgarr.

"All right, transfer him to video. Let's see who'd dare oppose my will and our just vengeance," said Lysis.

Lysis smiled, and then went pale as Desslok's image appeared on the round screen of his space battleship.

"Lysis, are we engaging in a little target practice today, hmmh?" said Desslok.

"Leader Desslok..." said Lysis, who was in utter shock, along with Volgarr. "I thought you were dead."

"I thought _you _were. You never bothered to report to _me _after Rainbow Star Cluster. And I pardoned you for that battle. I'm a little annoyed, Lysis."

"Sir, why are you keeping us from finishing off the _Argo_? We can do it now," said Lysis.

"I don't want you to finish off one of my _allies_," said Desslok.

"Sir...the Terrans...uh...allies?" said Lysis. "Surely you're joking?"

"No, Lysis, I don't joke. The war between Gamilon and Earth has been over for several months now. And the Star Force and I are currently fighting the same enemy. If you're loyal to us, Lysis, stop this attack. At once. Otherwise, I'll be forced to use my Desslok Cannon on you. I don't think you'd like to be a practice target for me, would you?" said Desslok as a slow smile went across his face. "You're already under arrest for treason," he continued. "I don't think you want to die without a trial, do you?"

"All ships...stop the attack!" cried Lysis as sweat ran down his face. "All ships...Volgarr...tell them it's Leader Desslok's command!"

"All ships, cease firing at once!" cried Volgarr. "Desslok still lives! The attack stops at once...on his orders."

Out in space, the battle suddenly ended about thirty seconds later.

* * *

"Wildstar!" said Parsons. "The Gamilons have stopped firing!"

"I intercepted an order from Desslok's flagship to the rest of the fleet," said Homer. "Lysis is under arrest."

"Perhaps it was a mistake?" said Captain Wildstar. "Aliscea! What can you pick up from Desslok's mind?"

Aliscea sat in silence. "Anger and embarrassment," she said a moment later. "The anger is directed towards his erring general. The embarrassment is directed towards us. He _was_ sincere in allying with us."

"Is this reliable?" said Wildstar.

Aliscea nodded.

"Captain Wildstar," said Homer. "Desslok would like you and Nova to fly over to his flagship. He said he needs you both to be witnesses at...a trial?"

"Interesting," said Derek. "The Gamilons apparently waste no time in trying to set things right."

"Yeah...I agree with you," said Nova. "Shall I...uh...shall we leave now?"

Derek nodded, shrugging off his jacket and leaving it on the bridge on the back of the Captain's chair. "Venture, you're in command. Homer, tell Desslok we're flying over to his fleet at once in my fighter."

"Right away," said Homer.

"Course?" said Venture.

"Follow the Gamilons," said Derek as he glanced at Nova's radar before her relief showed up. "They seem to be assuming a high polar orbit over Gamilon itself, probably to keep clear of the currents between Gamilon and Iscandar. That should be a safe parking orbit for us. Call the _Gamilstadt_ at once if anything happens."

"Yessir," said Venture.

* * *

**II. AN INQUIRY**

**148,000 Lightyears Away From Earth**

**The Sanzar System**

**Desslok's Flagship _Gamilstadt_**

**Sunday February 21, 2202**

**1057 Hours Spacetime (Earthtime)**

* * *

"So that's how your ship was attacked, Captain?" asked Desslok. Talan, and some other Gamilon officers stood watching as Leader Desslok questioned both Derek and Nova about Lysis' attack on the _Argo_. Not far away, Lysis and Volgarr stood under arrest, flanked by four Gamilon guards in battle armor.

"Yes. He spoke to us about revenge," said Captain Wildstar, "and then he cut off the transmission and began firing."

"Nova, I understand you were at the radar. His fleet was in a posture of attack the whole time?" asked Desslok.

"Yes, it was."

"Would you say, in your professional opinion, that the attack was premeditated?"

Nova opened her mouth to answer, but Lysis blurted out, "Leader Desslok, you're leading the witness. You're practically putting your words in the brainless woman's mouth!"

"Lysis, remember that you are the one on military trial here, not me," said Desslok. He raised an arm, pointing accusingly at Lysis. "Interesting that you attempt to bring in concepts of Terran jurisprudence when _you _attacked _them_? I am the authority here, Lysis. I don't have to obey anyone's concepts of criminal procedure. And, besides, the woman is far from brainless. Or did you not hear of the confrontation she and Captain Wildstar had with me? She is a warrior, Lysis. I demand you show her the respect due to a warrior. Please go on, Lieutenant Wildstar," continued Desslok as he lowered his arm. "Would you say that the attack was premeditated?"

"It definitely was. He practically had us surrounded, Leader Desslok."

"Thank you. That's all that I needed established out of the mouths of two of you. Two of my officers have backed up your testimony, along with a loyal officer from Lysis' fleet that we also heard from. Given this testimony, I have enough information to make my decision." Desslok paused, and then stared at Lysis with a steely glance.

"Field Marshal Lysis. You and General Volgarr are guilty of sedition against me. You set yourself up as Chancellor without any convincing evidence that I was truly dead, since I had left Gamilon. You also conducted operations on your own without making any effort to contact me, and you attacked an ally of Gamilon with whom peace has been established by my command for no other reason except to buttress your own sense of glory. The penalty for both of your actions is death."

Nova started a little as she saw Desslok flipping back his cape and reaching for his blaster_. Oh my God, he's going to shoot them right now!_ she thought. _Right in front of us! It's his right...but..._

Desslok unsheathed the weapon and stood in thought for a moment. Then, to everyone's surprise, he reholstered his blaster. "I will suspend the execution of this sentence for one year, pending your good conduct, Lysis. The same goes for you, Volgarr. I give you one final chance to redeem yourself with loyal service rendered to myself and to our _allies_, gentlemen. If you serve faithfully for one year, you will be pardoned at the end of that year and restored to your Field Marshal's rank with all past honors, General. Honors of which I am stripping you for the time being. However, should you fail me again, you will be brought back before me for the execution of this provisional sentence of death. Do I make myself clear?"

"You do, sir," said Lysis as he came to attention and saluted. Volgarr did the same, with sweat running down his face.

"You are both dismissed. Please return to your battleship squadron, relinquish the command of your grand fleet, and assume a new formation behind my flagship. Do so quickly...I'd hate to have to carry out my sentence," said Desslok as he caressed his holster with a cold smile. "And one last thing."

"Yes, sir?" asked Lysis.

"Do _not_ dishonor any of my allies from Earth. The war is long over. Is that perfectly clear, _General_?"

"Of course," said Lysis. "Volgarr, follow me."

Volgarr nodded. Both men clicked their heels and saluted Desslok again, and then they nodded curtly but politely towards the Terrans and left.

* * *

A little later on, the Wildstars sat together before a table in a reception room on Desslok's flagship. "Thank you for taking our testimony into account, Leader Desslok," said Nova.

"You're quite welcome," said Desslok. "Before we drink again to our peoples' cooperation, do you have any further questions?"

"I do," said Captain Wildstar. "Desslok. Lysis was acting independently from you, almost as if he had set up his own Empire. We gathered that from his defense." He looked at Nova and saw the question that was on his mind reflected in her dark eyes. "We're aware that you have the power to see to your own subordinates, Desslok, but why...?"

"Why did I let him live?" said Desslok. The Gamilon stood. "I need him, Captain Wildstar," said Desslok. "In the past, even before he was involved with the war against Earth, he was one of my greatest generals and strategists. His skills are second only to my own and Talan's. Gamilon needs his skill, redirected to our common cause in this hour. I pray you understand. If his reputation were not what it was, he would be a dead man now. I want you to inform me if he ever attempts to attack you again or shows any of you any rudeness or dishonor. Should he do so, I want to be informed of it; unless he attacks your ship, that is, and you and your crew are in mortal danger. Then, I shall not question you if you have to defend yourselves and carry out my sentence for me."

"You mean, you'd let us bring him down if we had to?" said Captain Wildstar.

"That's what I just told you," said Desslok. "Of course, you'll note I stripped him of his grand fleet. The bulk of his fleet is now under my command. He has been reduced to commanding a squadron of his battleship and escorts; a squadron of about thirty ships. I have already dispatched him away to guard the edge of the Sanzar System. He might prove useful should the Rikashan fleet you spoke of seek to attack us here while we wait." Desslok went silent for a moment. "It would be pleasant to see Queen Starsha again face-to-face. I understand you have much to discuss with her?"

"We do, Desslok," said Derek.

"However, the most important conversations will be between her and Aliscea," said Nova. "They're hoping to stop the Dark Lord's Fortress as it passes through the Sanzar System. The war could be won or lost here in the next few days, Aliscea says."

"I see," said Desslok. He mused for a moment in silence. "I wish that affairs between Starsha and myself were better. We are no longer lovers as we once were, but we need not be at odds forever. When last we spoke a few weeks ago, when I stopped here to pay tribute to the fallen at Gamilon, I contacted her on Iscandar. The conversation did not go well. Doubtless, she is aware that I am here again by now."

A voice suddenly came over a hidden speaker in the reception room. "Leader Desslok. There is a private signal for you from Iscandar. Shall I patch it through to your chambers, sir?"

"Please do so," said Desslok. He turned towards a darkened viewscreen and signalled that Derek and Nova should do likewise.

A moment later, Starsha's image appeared on the screen. Alex Wildstar sat beside her. They were comfortable in well-cushioned chairs in a communications room in Starsha's palace in Mother Town on Iscandar. In her palace, the room was well-appointed, something like a parlor.

"I see you haven't changed, Desslok," said Starsha in a low, but cold voice. "I am aware that you have a huge war fleet over Gamilon. Is this an attempt to intimidate me?"

"No, Starsha. I arrived here by agreement with young Captain Wildstar and Aliscea of Pellias. By the request of Pellias, I am going to be involved in this conclave being held on Iscandar."

"If I _permit _you to set foot on Iscandar, that is," sighed Starsha. "Still as bloodthirsty as usual? I am aware that you had to stop an overly enthusiastic general of yours from destroying the Star Force at my very doorstep, just as you almost did close to two years ago."

"Gamilon is changing because _I_ am changing, Starsha. I and Gamilon are one. As long as I live..."

"...Gamilon lives," snapped Starsha. "I hate to be rude, Desslok, but I've heard this from you before. I am aware of how you have aided Earth, of course, which is the only reason I am not demanding that you leave the Sanzar System forthwith."

"My Empire still claims much of the Sanzar System, Starsha. We have never relinquished that claim. "

"Even though Gamilon is destroyed?" snapped Alex.

"I hate to be rude to you with your brother here, but I was _not_ speaking to you," said Desslok. "This is a conference among sovereigns."

Nova looked at Derek and silently shook her head. "May I be excused, Desslok?" she said.

Desslok raised an eyebrow. "I would prefer that you..."

"You said it was a conference between _sovereigns_," said Nova in a quiet but firm voice. "Obviously, Derek and I are interfering if his brother is also interfering. _Derek_?" she said as she took her husband's hand. He nodded, and stood along with her.

"She has a point, Desslok," said Derek. "May we leave?"

Desslok looked as if he was at a loss for words. Finally, he said, "Again, please remain. Starsha, I apologize for my rudeness towards your consort. I shall take heed of his role in this conversation."

"Thank you," said Starsha. She glanced at Nova and smiled a little as the young Terrans sat back down again.

"That's what I respect about these two," said Desslok. "No pretenses. I have learned much from them and their honesty."

"Then, I shall not use any pretense, either," said Starsha. "Desslok, you may visit Iscandar for this conclave because it appears that fate has bound us together just as Iscandar and Gamilon were once bound by the forces of gravity and culture. But, after we come to an agreement as to how to act against Ekogaru, I would much prefer that you leave. Gamilon is in ruins. Iscandar is renewing itself. You have nothing more to do with Gamilon herself, and, likewise, I would prefer to have nothing more to do with you and what you represent. Men of peace do not barge into star systems uninvited with huge armadas, Desslok. And, I am aware of the extraordinary circumstances, but I am a little surprised that the Star Force has made peace with the likes of you. It would be best if you leave us and Earth well alone after this crisis ends."

"Would it?" said Desslok. "Would you be pleased to know that some of the Pellians are with me and wish to settle on Iscandar? Would you be pleased to learn that my consort Astrena has asked that Gamilon maintain a guard over Iscandar to guard her as long as some of her people are there? Would you be pleased to learn that this time, I do come in peace?"

"Iscandar is _not_ a waste land, Desslok. Others are here now besides Alex and myself. I would prefer to meet with the leader of the Pellian party before I make any decision as to whether any of her people, with a refined but warlike culture, can or should set foot on my planet. Remember, Desslok. _You_ are not the ruler of Iscandar. _I _am," she said with a soft but stern voice. "Let our truce be on those terms."

"I am not aware we were ever at war, Starsha," said Desslok.

"I remember my sister, Astra," said Starsha. "I remember how your _proud_ Gamilon warships, under the command of your oh-so-honorable drunkard Colonel Ganz, shot my sister's ship apart and thus doomed her to her death, as the Terrans told me when they first came here to Iscandar. I remember that you have the blood of billions of Terrans on your hands, Desslok, for your own glory and ego. I remember that I ceased loving you when I learned that you were perpetrating genocide. I also have sworn that if Iscandar was dying, going through space with no hope, I would not accept a rescue from you, set foot on your flagship, and leave Iscandar if you were the last potential savior in the Universe. Not only would I not leave Iscandar; I would not accept your aid. It is only because of Earth and the Pellians that you are even here, Desslok. If I truly wanted you to leave my territorial space, you would know it. I am a woman of peace. However, I am not to be trifled with. Remember the cache of Iscandarium in my planet, Desslok? I still control it, and I have other powers, as well. Good day, Desslok."

At that, the screen went dark. Desslok sat in silence. "Wildstar, Nova, I do not intend to be rude, but..."

"You'd prefer we leave?" asked Derek.

Desslok nodded. "I believe that you can appreciate that I would prefer to be alone, now. Thank you for remaining, however. Please tell Talan that I do not wish to be disturbed."

"Of course," said Nova. She stood and shyly patted his fingers. "Thank you for all that you've done, Desslok. We do appreciate it. And we know that you have changed."

"Thank you," he said quietly. "As you may guess, there are times when it is _not_ an asset to have one's reputation precede them," he said in a slow voice. "Good day."

Derek and Nova left the Gamilon Leader alone. He dimmed the lights in the room after they left and sat brooding alone in silence for a very long time.

* * *

**III. SEVERAL CONTROVERSIES**

**148,000 Lightyears Away From Earth**

**The Edge of the Sanzar System**

**Sunday February 21, 2202**

**1540 Hours Spacetime (Earthtime)**

* * *

"Volgarr," said Lysis as they sat together aboard his battleship later on that day. "I have to be polite to the Terrans, Desslok said?"

"That is what he said, sir," said Volgarr in his snarling voice.

"Being polite is not the same thing as kissing their posteriors, Volgarr. Thanks to the Star Force, I almost died again today. There shall come a day, Volgarr, when they shall pay for their arrant arrogance...and for coming so high in the Leader's favor. What a primitive race!"

"Desslok had better not hear you talking that way."

"He had better not." Lysis then turned to Volgarr. "And you had better be certain to make sure he does not hear any of this. Do I make myself clear?"

"Of course, sir."

* * *

On the _Argo_, which had separated itself from the Gamilon Fleet and was now coming in for a landing on Iscandar, Aliscea was sitting at the Analysis post speaking to Rosstowski as the ship cruised in for her landing.

"So you are sorry?" she said.

"Yes, Aliscea. I'm very sorry that I said that. I didn't mean to imply that you were a freak or anything. I lost my temper. Can you forgive me?"

"I'll think about it," she said with a teasing smile. Dash pushed her playfully on the elbow. "Oh, c'mon, do it," he said. "Make him happy. He's been Mister Doom and Gloom all day since you fought."

"Say please, Paul," said Aliscea with a wink back towards Captain Wildstar at the Captain's station.

"Please," said Paul.

"Say pretty please?" said Aliscea with a bigger smile.

"Pretty please," smiled Paul.

"Pretty please with sugar on it," said Aliscea in a silly voice.

Paul laid a hand on Aliscea's. "Pretty please with sugar on it, Aliscea?"

"And strawberries?" said Aliscea.

"Strawberries?" said Nova with a puzzled look.

"Yeah. She's trying to make herself fat," said Holly.

"Pretty please with sugar on it, and strawberries, too," said Paul. "_Please_, Aliscea."

A voice finally said in Aliscea's head. _You're coming near my planet, Aliscea. Forgive him. We need to work together._

"Okay, Starsha," she said brightly. She got up and kissed Paul on the forehead. "Forgiven."

The bridge crew applauded.

"Okay, now," laughed Derek. "Now that we've settled our spat, can we get to work?"

"Right," said Venture. "Open main wings. Prepare for re-entry into Iscandar's atmosphere. Trim angle, forty-two degrees."

The ship slowed down, glowing with the heat of re-entry for a time, but then cooling down as she descended into Iscandar's lower atmosphere. Finally, the _Argo_ splashed down into the blue ocean and cruised through the channel that led through a small island, emerging in the sea near Mother Town. It was near sunset on the planet, and the view was breathtaking.

A while later, the mighty space battleship cruised up to the quay and stopped near Mother Town.

"Message from Starsha," said Homer. "She would like to meet with us tomorrow morning. Until then, she asks us only to drop anchor and to rest. She says she is aware that we've been through a lot today. Now is the time for rest. Message ends."

"Thank you, Queen Starsha," said Venture with a sigh. "It's been too long since I've seen placid ocean and plain blue sky."

"We'll finish what we need to finish this watch," said Captain Wildstar.

"And then?" said Sandor.

"Then we'll take Queen Starsha's advice...and rest...but not for too long."

"Ekogaru isn't here yet," said Aliscea as she went up to Paul and hugged him from behind. "I suggest that we catch our breath for a bit. It's been a long journey."

"Yes, very long," said Nova. She and Derek held hands near Dash's post for a minute. "I can't believe we made it," she said softly.

"Me neither," said Derek. "At last, we've returned to the Great Magellenic Cloud."

* * *

**END. (Story to be continued in Part Eight of The Rikasha Incident—"Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor")**

* * *

**_THERE ARE NOW 95 DAYS TO THE ARRIVAL OF EKOGARU IN EARTH'S SOLAR SYSTEM_**

* * *


End file.
